• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Visit Bluff Country

A guide to Historic Bluff Country

  • Explore
    • Attractions
    • Scenic Byways
    • Trails
    • Waterways
    • State Parks
    • Minnesota
    • Iowa
    • Wisconsin
    • Live Cams
  • Recreation
    • All Recreation
    • Biking
    • Hiking
    • Water Activities
    • Golfing
    • Fishing
    • Hunting
    • ATV/UTV
    • Indoor Recreation
    • Winter Recreation
  • Stay
    • All Lodging
    • B&B’s
    • Hotels & Inns
    • Resorts
    • Vacation Rentals
    • Campgrounds
    • Cabins
  • Taste
    • Dining & Drinking
      • Bar & Grills
      • Family Dining
      • Fine Dining
      • Casual Dining
      • Fast/Grab-n-Go Food
      • Outdoor Seating
    • Craft Beer, Wine & Spirits
    • Farmers Markets
  • Shop
    • All Shopping
    • Amish
    • Antiques, Retro & Vintage
    • Apparel
    • Crafts & Fibers
    • Gifts
    • Grocery & Specialty Foods
    • Lawn, Garden & Floral
    • Off Sale
    • Pets & Animals
    • Vehicles & Boats
  • Plan Your Visit
    • About Historic Bluff Country
    • View Guidebook
    • Visitor Centers
    • Business Directory
    • Local Services
    • Bluff Country News
    • Gallery
  • Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • Car Shows & Cruises
  • WIN!
    • Vote for the Best of Bluff Country and WIN!
    • Enter to WIN a T-Shirt
    • The Best Winners 2025
    • The Best Winners 2024
    • The Best Winners 2023
    • The Best Winners 2022
    • The Best Winners 2021
    • The Best Winners 2020

The “International” part of the small-town International Festival of Owls

February 17, 2025 by Visit Bluff Country

The “International” part of the small-town International Festival of Owls

By Karla Bloem

People often ask how an event in Houston, Minnesota – with a population just shy of 1,000 – could be international. The answer is: owls!

The International Festival of Owls traces its roots back to 2003 as a hatch-day party for Alice the Great Horned Owl, an educational ambassador at the Houston Nature Center. The event has grown over the years to include World Owl Hall of Fame awards, international speakers, and a highly competitive international children’s owl art contest.

This year’s World Owl Hall of Fame Award winners, selected by a panel of five owl experts from four continents, are Scott Rashid from Colorado and Rudolf Schaaf from Germany.

Scott Rashid is the founder and director of the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute (CARRI). He has spent 27 years working with owls, banding more than 1,400 owls of 10 species, delivering hundreds of educational programs, and live streaming owl nests to the world. He has put up more than 150 owl nest boxes, has published many popular and scientific articles, and rehabilitates wild owls in need of help. To top it off, he has written several books about owls, generously illustrated with his own artwork and photographs. He will be the keynote speaker at this year’s International Festival of Owls on Saturday, March 8.

Rudolf Schaaf from Germany is being honored with a Special Achievement Award for his more than 30 years of dedication to the publication of international owl research, conservation and cultural aspects in KAUZBRIEF, a publication of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Eulenschutz im Landkreis Ludwigsburg (owl protection and research group). One thousand copies of each issue are disseminated to members of owl groups and universities conducting owl research. Schaaf is unable to attend in person but has created a 30-minute presentation that will also be shown on March 8.

Former World Owl Hall of Fame Award winner Raju Acharya from Nepal will also attend this year’s festival and will give a presentation on Sunday, March 9. Acharya has created a sister festival that takes place in early February: the Nepal Owl Festival.

In an unexpected twist, what started as a local coloring contest at the first festival has morphed into a highly competitive international art competition, with 2,000 – 4,000 entries from 30-50 countries each year. This year nearly 3,000 entries from 32 countries were submitted, with judging slated to take place on February 22. Winners and about one hundred staff favorites will be displayed at the International Owl Center until next year’s Festival of Owls, and hundreds more will be displayed at Houston High School and in storefronts around Houston during this year’s festival, March 7-9.

The International Festival of Owls also includes just about everything you can think of related to owls: ambassador owls from the International Owl Center and visiting owls from the Illinois Raptor Center (including a Snowy Owl), owl prowls to call in wild owls, owl nest box building, owl pellet dissection, owl crafts, owl face painting, a kids’ owl calling contest, vendors of all manner of owl products, owl-themed food, and more.

One special part of this year’s festival will be two readings of the new book “Owl Music” by author Kat Beaulieu. Although written as a children’s book about a boy, an owl and a feather, it contains a powerful soul-touching message about our connection to nature for people of all ages.

Alice the Great Horned Owl has been retired for several years and now has arthritis, cataracts and atherosclerosis. She will be turning 28 this year and although she will not be present, there will still be a hatch-day cake for her on Sunday. This year will also mark the International Owl Center’s 10th year in operation.

For more information about the festival and to register for special events, visit www.FestivalOfOwls.com.

Filed Under: Happenings in Bluff Country, News

Primary Sidebar

Bluff Country News & Stories

Dana Boler Photography on the Cover of Visit Bluff Country Magazine

May 8, 2025

Join Vesterheim to Celebrate Syttende Mai, Norway’s Constitution Day

May 7, 2025

New Exhibit at Vesterheim Museum

April 25, 2025

Drift Cycle Bike Share Launching in the City of La Crosse

April 17, 2025

Wrapping up the season!

April 15, 2025

Nordic Fest Board of Directors Announces 2025 Honorees

April 10, 2025

24th Annual Bluff Country Studio Art Tour

April 3, 2025

Celebrate Beer, Wine & Cheese Fest & Taster’s Eve!

April 3, 2025

Vesterheim New Forging Studio Opens in May 2025

April 1, 2025

Commonweal Theatre to present “The Half-Life of Marie Curie”

March 28, 2025

Announcing Call for Visual Artists for Summer Group Show at Lanesboro Arts Gallery

March 18, 2025

Artist Meg Frank brings mixed media art quilt project to Lanesboro

March 18, 2025

Four Regional Musicians Headline Songwriters Showcase on April 12

March 14, 2025

Commonweal Theatre Announces Details for its 2025 Season

March 6, 2025

Vesterheim Folk Art School Hosts Norwegian Weaving Instructor and Introduces On-Demand Classes

February 26, 2025

Vesterheim Invites Entries for Juried Exhibit in 2025

February 19, 2025

Nordic Fest Announces 2025 Theme

February 18, 2025

Lanesboro Arts Brings Mediterranean Music Group, Other Country Ensemble, to St. Mane Theatre on March 29th

February 17, 2025

The “International” part of the small-town International Festival of Owls

February 17, 2025

Lunch & Learn at Good Earth Village: Speaker George Thompson

February 13, 2025

Before Footer

Footer

Visit Bluff Country

Enter to Win

  • The Best Contest Entry
  • Enter to Win a Shirt
Visit Bluff Country
136 St. Anthony Street | PO Box 496
Preston, MN. 55965

800-599-0481
A publication of the Fillmore County Journal

Plan Your Visit

  • Attractions
  • Recreation
  • Eat & Drink
  • Shopping
  • Lodging
  • Explore Iowa
  • Explore Minnesota
  • Explore Wisconsin
  • Explore Historic Bluff Country
  • Plan Your Visit
  • Area Events

Information

  • Bluff Country News & Stories
  • Business Directory
  • The Best Winners 2025
  • Visitor Guidebook
  • Visit Bluff Country Distribution
  • Advertise
  • Gallery
  • Submit Your Photos
  • Live Cams
  • Visitor Centers
  • Home

Minnesota Towns

  • Brownsville
  • Caledonia
  • Canton
  • Chatfield
  • Fountain
  • Fremont
  • Harmony
  • Hokah
  • Houston
  • Kellogg
  • La Crescent
  • Lake City
  • Lanesboro
  • LeRoy
  • Mabel
  • Millville
  • Peterson
  • Plainview
  • Preston
  • Red Wing
  • Rushford
  • Rushford Village
  • Spring Grove
  • Spring Valley
  • Wabasha
  • Whalan
  • Winona
  • Wykoff

Iowa Towns

  • Bluffton
  • Burr Oak
  • Cresco
  • Decorah
  • Elkader
  • Hawkeye
  • Highlandville
  • Lansing
  • Lime Springs
  • Marquette-McGregor
  • Riceville
  • Waukon

Wisconsin Towns

  • Alma
  • Bay City
  • Fountain City
  • Galesville
  • La Crosse
  • Nelson
  • Pepin
  • Prairie du Chien
  • Warrens

© 2025 · Website Design and Hosting by SMG Web Design of Preston, MN.