Raw States

Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival

Titusville, FL · Nature

When

January 20–24, 2027

Where

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge area, near 8701 Astronaut Blvd · Titusville · FL

Cost

Not confirmed

Status

Approximate: based on past editions, not announced yet

Billed as the largest birding festival in the country, it runs guided trips into the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Indian River Lagoon habitats that make this stretch of coast a globally known migratory stopover. It has run for over two decades and draws birders nationally.

The history within reach

• Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festivalsame spot

  Billed as the largest birding festival in the country, it runs guided trips into the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Indian River Lagoon habitats that make this stretch of coast a globally known migratory stopover.

• Ron Jon, the surf shop that never closes1.9 mi

  A two-acre art-deco temple to surfing that has not locked its doors in decades: open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, on the theory that somebody always needs wax at 3 am.

• Where Jeannie lived3.3 mi

  I Dream of Jeannie put its astronaut hero's house in Cocoa Beach, and for five seasons the show sold America a fantasy of the space-race beach town: crew cuts, cocktails and a genie in a bottle found after a splashdown.

• Cocoa Beach, from I Dream of Jeannie4.3 mi

  I Dream of Jeannie set its astronaut sitcom in Cocoa Beach at the exact moment the real space program made the town famous, and the town has leaned into it since: there is an I Dream of Jeannie Lane, and the giant Ron Jon Surf Shop up the road never closes..

• Surfing Santas of Cocoa Beach4.4 mi

  Hundreds of surfers dress as Santa, elves and reindeer to paddle out on Christmas Eve morning while thousands watch from the sand.