Batfest Weekend! Sonar-sense winged mammals to be celebrated at Woodberry Wetlands

The Common Pipistrelle bat. Photograph: Hugh Clark

Enthusiasts for our only flying mammals will soon be winging their way to a weekend-long family-friendly festival that styles itself as a celebration of “all things bat”.

BatFest, which is organised by two charities – the London Wildlife Trust and Bat Conservation Trust – is the UK’s largest annual event dedicated solely to these fascinating nocturnal creatures.

The event coincides with International Bat Night, which aims to raise awareness of threats the creatures face such as habitat loss, and will take place at Woodberry Wetlands, the newly opened nature reserve in Stamford Hill.

Mathew Frith, the London Wildlife Trust’s conservation director, said the event will include “an eclectic line-up of bat-themed events appealing both to experts and those who may never have seen one of these special nocturnal mammals”.

Highlights will include an exhibition of bat photographs, a bat illustration workshop led by wildlife artist Jennie Webber, an evening bat walk and a chance to get up close to bats under the care of a qualified handler.

There will also be a storytelling session with A S Mills, author of children’s book Bobby the Brown Long-Eared Bat.

In addition, visitors will be able to build their own batboxes, meet a giant pipistrelle puppet and take part in a “bat relay” and bat face-painting a tattoo making to disguise themselves as one of the mysterious creatures.

There are 16 breeding species of bat in the British Isles. Those seen in London regularly include the common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle, noctule, serotine and Daubenton’s bat.

The common pipistrelle, by far the most abundant in London, weighs less than a ten pence coin but has a big appetite, eating up to 3,000 midges, mosquitoes and other small flying insects in a single night.

BatFest will be taking place from 26-28 August, and tickets must be booked in advance via Eventbrite.

Money raised will be reinvested in London Wildlife Trust’s conservation work, management of Woodberry Wetlands and the Bat Conservation Trust.