Makanda Vulture Fest

Makanda, IL · Quirky

When: October 17–18, 2026
Where: Makanda Boardwalk · Makanda · IL
Cost: Not confirmed
Status: Confirmed from the organizer's published schedule

Makanda's Vulture Fest started informally on the town's boardwalk in 1999, timed to the fall return of turkey vultures that roost in the area. The weekend now features an arts and crafts market, food vendors, and live music alongside the birds in the tiny Shawnee Hills village. It has run for more than twenty-five years.

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The history within reach

Makanda Vulture Festsame spot
Makanda's Vulture Fest started informally on the town's boardwalk in 1999, timed to the fall return of turkey vultures that roost in the area.
Alto Vineyards Harvest Festival4.5 mi
Alto Vineyards, the founding winery of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, hosts a Harvest Festival each September with live music and a fireworks finale.
The Cobden Appleknockers, a town of a thousand in the state final4.8 mi
Illinois ran one basketball tournament for every school in the state regardless of size, and in 1964 a town of about a thousand people in the orchard country reached the final and lost by nine.
Bald Knob Cross, a hundred feet of white on a hilltop4.8 mi
A cross a hundred and eleven feet tall on the highest ground in southern Illinois, visible for miles at night and paid for in part by farm families donating the money from selling chickens.
Pomona Natural Bridge6.7 mi
A sandstone arch about ninety feet across in the Shawnee National Forest, cut by a creek that found a weakness and went through the rock rather than around it.