Great Lakes Bat Festival

The Great Lakes Bat Festival was an annual two-day event that started in 2002 and began in the Great Lakes region. The festival later expanded to different state divisions, which included the Illinois Bat Festival, the Indiana State University Bat Festival, the Minnesota Bat Festival, and the Wisconsin Bat Festival. It was founded and organized by the Organization for Bat Conservation until the organization's dissolution in 2018.

The goals of the Great Lakes Bat Festival were to highlight the diversity of life on earth, educate people on bats and explain the need for conservation. The festival included live bat programs presented by the Organization for Bat Conservation, featuring bats from around the world.

Evening events included demonstrations from bat researchers on various research techniques, such as radio-tagging and/or light-tagging.

Locations
The festival was held at the Cranbrook Institute of Science Bat Zone in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, at the Indiana State University Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and at Iron Mountain, Michigan near Millie Hill Mine.

Dissolution
The Great Lakes Bat Festival was dissolved in 2018 due to its organizer, Organization for Bat Conservation, ceasing operations. This was because of the termination of its co-founder, Rob Mies, as well as financial issues.

Notable speakers and guests

 * Jannell Cannon (Artist & Author of award-winning book Stellaluna)
 * Fiona Reid (Artist & Author)
 * Bill Schutt (author of the critically acclaimed book Dark Banquet)
 * Dr. John Whitaker, Jr. (Indiana State University)
 * Dr. Al Kurta (Eastern Michigan University)
 * Dr. Tim Carter (Ball State University)
 * Rob Mies (Organization for Bat Conservation)
 * Bill Scullon (Michigan Department of Natural Resources)
 * Mike Frayer (Milwaukee County Zoo)