The World Lemur Festival (WLF) has been held in Madagascar and around the world since 2014.
In 2024, the Lemur Conservation Network (LCN) began sponsoring events in Madagascar through small grants for local conservationists. In 2025, we worked with Teach for Madagascar to implement events at schools across the island, in which volunteers and local teachers used our Lemurs card games about lemurs. And, we worked with Planet Madagascar to hold two days of activities with four schools near Ankarafantsika National Park.
COST EFFECTIVE + HUGE IMPACT
These events have proven to be a very successful and cost-effective way to expand educational outreach about lemurs, engage local communities, and inspire participants to protect lemurs.
- $9,000 awarded in grants
- 10 festivals in 6 regions
- Over 6,000 people engaged
- Average cost of just $1.50 per person and $900 per event
EDUCATE + ENGAGE + INSPIRE
Expanding Lemur Education
Instead of relying on direct instruction, the festival provides an interactive opportunity for students and adults alike to learn about lemurs. Students participated in parades through their town, performed dances, songs, and poetry with their peers, competed with one another in lemur card games and quizzes, identified lemur calls, reforested lemur habitats, and created colorful drawings of a variety of lemur species.
This active learning is not always feasible day-to-day in a classroom, but these festivals expand learning opportunities by providing playful and educational outreach.
Engaging Local Communities
Engagement with local communities was cultivated by the selected grantees. Recipients were residents of the communities, and shared the same language, customs, and neighbors as the rest of the town. Activities were endemic to the region and beloved by the people who live there, such as traditional dances and songs, documentaries in the resident’s language, and warm communal meals like bowls of rice with zebu meat.
This familiarity drew in a variety of diverse townspeople, including everyday residents of all ages, local authorities, community leaders, local NGOs, artists, and students, who were central to the festivals.
Inspiring Local Protection
Instead of relying on outside pressure, residents were inspired by one another through shared festivities that started in their own communities.
Celebrating and learning about lemurs as a town transformed them from local wildlife into cherished members of the region, sowing the seeds for the long-term protection of lemurs across Madagascar.
SUPPORT THE WORLD LEMUR FESTIVAL
Donate to LCN to Increase Our Impact
All donations between May and August support our small grants for World Lemur Festival events!
Small Grants for World Lemur Festival Events
These grants cover costs associated with creating and implementing World Lemur Festival events focused on education.
About World Lemur Day and the World Lemur Festival
The World Lemur Festival is held every year in the weeks surrounding World Lemur Day (the last Friday of October).