May 22 (UPI) -- A New York park is celebrating one of the city's most iconic animals next month with Pigeon Fest, a day-long event featuring art exhibitions, science demonstrations and the city's first Pigeon Impersonation Pageant.
The High Line, an elevated park on the West Side of Manhattan, announced Pigeon Fest will be held from noon to 8 p.m. June 14, coinciding with National Pigeon Appreciation Day.
The park's website said the event is partially inspired by Dinosaur, artist Iván Argote's 17-foot-tall aluminum pigeon sculpture that resides at the park.
Alan van Capelle, the park's executive director, told The New York Times that the festival will include "a pigeon impersonation pageant and a panel on urban ecology and bird conservation."
The events also include a Zumba-style Pigeon Dance Party and a puppet show put on by Tina Piña Trachtenberg, aka Mother Pigeon, who is famous in New York for feeding the birds while dressed in a giant pigeon costume.
"Love them or hate them, people are fascinated by our feathered friends," van Capelle told TimeOut New York. "This festival felt like a fitting way to celebrate New Yorkers' dynamic relationship with art, nature and, most specifically, pigeons."
