From September 21 to 27, the mountain island will once again become a meeting place for birdwatchers, photographers, artists, students and nature lovers, as MiratecArts and the Municipality of Lajes do Pico bring together observation, education and artistic creation across Pico, Faial, Terceira and São Miguel.

Autumn begins on Pico with wings in the sky and art in the streets. From September 21 to 27, 2026, the Azores Birdwatching Arts Festival returns to Lajes do Pico with a program designed to make birdwatching not only a scientific and recreational practice, but also an educational and artistic experience. Organized by MiratecArts in partnership with the Municipality of Lajes do Pico, the festival once again uses photography, drawing, film, workshops and field observation to bring people closer to the birdlife and landscapes of the Azores.

The opening takes place on Monday, September 21, at 4:00 p.m., with three exhibitions at the Municipal Gallery of Lajes do Pico. In partnership with Asas do Mar, “Seabirds of Macaronesia” brings together five years of the association’s photography competition. Images by André Vieira, Bruno Pereira, João Quaresma, Nuno Bicudo, Nuno Gonçalves, Olivier Coucelos, Pedro Madruga, Pedro Silva and Valter Medeiros will also leave the gallery walls and enter the town itself, displayed on flags along the streets of Lajes, including Rua dos Baleeiros.

The Municipal Library will become another point of encounter between nature and art, hosting drawings by Olivier Coucelos and a selection of books devoted to birds. On the same day, Pico’s first BirdRace begins, extending over five days of the festival and inviting participants to observe and identify as many species as possible while moving through the island’s varied habitats.

Much of the public program requires no advance registration. “A Hora das Aves,” a bird photography workshop, talks, films and the Wine Birds event are open to anyone who wishes to take part. The pelagic excursion is already fully booked, as is a substantial educational program for schools, which will combine field trips, environmental learning and cultural and artistic activities adapted to different age groups.

Although Lajes do Pico remains the festival’s central stage, this year’s program also reaches beyond the mountain island, with field visits planned on Faial, Terceira and São Miguel. That wider geography reflects one of the festival’s most important ideas: birdlife ignores the boundaries that people draw between islands. Migratory routes, seabird colonies and Atlantic ecosystems create another kind of archipelago, one connected by flight.

Programmers Terry Costa and Pedro Silva see the 2026 edition as another step in building awareness around birdwatching and, more broadly, the natural environment that surrounds Azorean communities. The festival’s distinctive strength lies precisely in that intersection. It does not ask people merely to identify a bird through binoculars. It asks them to look again—through a camera lens, a drawing, a film, a walk along the coast, or the patient silence required to notice movement in the sky.

In the Azores, where the ocean is never far away and migratory routes pass over islands formed by volcanoes, birdwatching becomes something larger than a hobby. It becomes a way of learning the landscape, understanding vulnerability and rediscovering attention.

For one week in September, Lajes do Pico will turn that attention into a festival—where science meets art, where observation becomes memory, and where looking at a bird may also become another way of seeing the islands themselves.

Based on a Press Release from MiratecArts. The photos are also from MiratecArts.