What is the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society (BACPS)?

The Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society (BACPS) is a group of carnivorous plant enthusiasts based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It hosts regular educational and trade/sale meetings around the Bay Area, and it also runs one of the largest annual public carnivorous plant shows and sales in the USA. If you are in or near the Bay Area and want to learn about, trade, or simply be around carnivorous plants, BACPS is the organization to look at first.

What BACPS does

BACPS describes itself around three main activities:

• Meetings and programs — regular educational meetings, programs, and workshops held around the Bay Area.
• Trade and sales — meetings include trade/sale components, so members can exchange or buy plants.
• Annual public show and sale — the society hosts one of the largest annual public carnivorous plant show and sales in the USA.

The society also states that it believes strongly in conservation, with many of its efforts going toward education and sponsoring the protection of carnivorous plants.

Who can attend

According to the site, monthly meetings, programs, and workshops are free and open to the public of all ages. You do not need to be a member to come to those events — the homepage explicitly invites people to "come join us," bring enthusiasm, and leave "inspired, informed, and maybe with some killer plants in tow."

Membership is a separate option: the site includes a "Become a Member" call to action, but the homepage text does not state a membership price or any member-only requirement for attending meetings.

Example of an event

The homepage's "Upcoming Events" section lists a holiday gathering:

This is a concrete illustration of how BACPS events work: a specific venue, a specific date, and an open invitation. Because events change over time, check the site's Upcoming Events section for the current listing rather than relying on any single dated example.

How to get involved

1. Check the Upcoming Events section on bacps.org for the next meeting, program, workshop, or show.
2. Show up — meetings, programs, and workshops are described as free and open to the public of all ages.
3. Bring plants or interest in trading if you want to take part in the trade/sale side of meetings.
4. Consider membership via the "Become a Member" option if you want to support the society's conservation and education efforts.

What to keep in mind

• BACPS is a regional society, so its in-person value is concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• The homepage does not list membership fees, so treat cost as something to confirm on the membership page rather than assuming it is free.
• The annual show and sale is described as one of the largest public carnivorous plant events in the USA, which makes it the single most useful date to watch for if you are outside the Bay Area but willing to travel.