Festival goers seek birds from tour boats, kayaks, trails, viewing stations by the side of the road, autos, bikes and buses. (One birder reported an unusual species from his hot tub, but this was not a festival event.) A range of programs taught identification, photography, Native uses of birds, where to bird, nature writing, and how to use binoculars and scopes. Young birder Samantha Franks of the University of Ontario won a scholarship to the festival from a Memorial Fund set up by the family of Tim Schantz, an Alaskan bird guide who loved the festival.

The Chamber of Commerce supplements birding events with a range of activities including concerts, art fairs, a migration run (south to north, of course), a wooden boat festival and a quilt show. Partnerships built and sustain this festival. In addition to the primary partnership between the Refuge and the Chamber, participants include the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, the Pratt Museum, the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, the Bird Treatment and Learning Center and the Audubon Society. Thanks in part to the publicity of the Shorebird Festival, Kachemak Bay has become renowned for its critical shorebird habitat and been designated as part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. More than a hundred thousand shorebirds of 25 species pass through the Bay in May. For more information about the festival, please visit http://homeralaska.org/shorebird.