Celebrate the 3rd Annual Harriet Tubman Freedom Birdwatch at WorldBeat Center
Saturday, June 21, 2025 | 9:30AM – 2:30PM

Join us for a powerful morning of remembrance, nature, and cultural history as WorldBeat Cultural Center hosts the 3rd Annual Harriet Tubman Freedom Birdwatch in honor of Juneteenth and the legacy of Black resistance and liberation.

This year’s experience will take place in and around WorldBeat Center’s Ethnobotany Garden, where participants will engage in guided birdwatching, cultural storytelling, and hands-on learning. Instead of walking through Balboa Park, we’ll be grounded in our garden sanctuary, tuning into the birds, plants, and freedom stories rooted in this land.

In partnership with Celebrate Urban Birds and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, we’ll be using the Merlin Bird ID app to identify local birds by sight and sound. We’ll also reflect on the important role of birds in history—especially how Harriet Tubman used the call of the barred owl as a secret signal during Underground Railroad missions.

New this year is an Augmented Reality “freedom trail” in the garden. Visitors will follow interactive markers that highlight the lives and leadership of figures like Harriet Tubman and John Horse, a Black Seminole and freedom fighter who led maroon communities across the South.

Participants will also learn about the quilts used as communication tools, sewn with symbols that guided enslaved people on their journey to freedom—blending African textile traditions with resistance strategies.

Event Highlights:

Garden-based birdwatching using the Merlin Bird ID app
Stories of how the barred owl and other birds were used as coded signals
Augmented Reality “freedom trail” through the garden
History of quilt codes on the Underground Railroad
Kumeyaay land acknowledgment and native tree planting
Bird-friendly seed giveaways
Cultural drumming, community vendors, and a Juneteenth Freedom Plate

This is more than a birdwatch—it’s a celebration of heritage, resilience, and the deep connection between nature and liberation.

Free and open to the public.
All ages welcome. Let’s learn, honor, and walk in the path of freedom—together.