Quiet Adventures Symposium Returns Feb. 28 to Inspire Outdoor Exploration
Outdoor enthusiasts and those looking to pick up a new hobby are invited to the Quiet Adventures Symposium. The Feb. 28 event will feature speakers, exhibitors and activities geared towards people who enjoy adventuring in nature.
Jay Hanks, 67, recalls the canoe fishing trips his father would take him on as a child that instilled a lifelong passion. His father would remind him how lucky they were to witness the glory of the outdoors — like seeing a kingfisher swoop down and grab a minnow out of the water — when others spent their time indoors.
“Those fishing trips are just an inspiration to freedom and being out in nature,” Hanks said. “I’ve seen things when I was a kid in a canoe that you would never be able to see if you weren’t there.”
Hanks has been involved in area outdoor and paddling groups over the years and helps put the symposium on, hoping to instill the same love for outdoor adventure in others.
The 2026 symposium on Feb. 28 will be the 31st rendition of the event. It will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Michigan State University Farm Bureau Pavilion. The event will have speakers and exhibitors for cyclists, backpackers, paddlers and much more.
The event is an epicenter for all things related to quiet outdoor activities. There are 33 speakers lined up with topics that range from outdoor stoves to presentations about building equity through adventure sports by Chicago Adventure Therapy, a nonprofit organization that provides Chicago youth with therapeutic experiences through adventure sports like rock climbing and kayaking.
The symposium will feature an area with youth activities, and aims to help inexperienced people feel more capable and prepared for outdoor adventures.
“We’re trying to focus on novices in a lot of our presentations,” said Cynthia Donovan, president of the Quiet Adventures Society. “People who are kind of curious about what it would be like to kayak or to canoe or to hammock.”
Donovan has been president for three years but served on the board for seven years. She spent over 20 years as a professor of agricultural food and resource economics at MSU. That’s when she paddled with the MSU Women’s Paddling Club, which sparked her interest in the Quiet Adventures Society, previously called the Quiet Water Society. Donovan said the name was changed because many members did non-water outdoor activities like biking and hiking.
A longtime wish of hers to include a video element in the symposium is coming true this year. On Feb. 27, the night before the symposium, a paddling film festival will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Hannah Community Center. Tickets are available here.
“I am just excited to be able to bring these movies here because there was no place in southern Michigan that was doing this festival,” Donovan said.
A youth area is another facet of the symposium that Donovan is excited about. It includes workshops from The Bus for Outdoor Access & Teaching, essentially a big red bus filled with equipment for excursions. There will also be a variety of activities like canoe painting and bounce houses.
Tickets to the symposium can be purchased here. Through Feb. 26, tickets are $12.50 and prices jump to $15 at the door. Entry is free to children and students who bring their student ID.
The symposium is a space for new people to soak up all the knowledge available, not only from the speakers but from other experienced attendees, like Hanks, who has presented on trips he has taken and the skills acquired along the way.
“It [symposium] brings in people who may have no experience and puts them shoulder to shoulder with people who do have experience…and they can talk to people face to face and ask their own questions,” Hanks said.