This weekend in Springdale, a butterfly festival is not only a celebration for the monarch, but also an opportunity for families to learn more about our local ecosystem. Ozarks at Large’s Andreah Gratol has more.
The Monarch Flight Festival takes place on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Natalie Herrera is the marketing and communications manager for Downtown Springdale Alliance. She says the monarch butterflies migrate every fall to Mexico.
"And Springdale just happens to be one of the paths on their route that they take. So it's really fun just learning about them and educating everyone on the significance of them."
The Monarch Flight Festival all started with a man named Marty, who used to work at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History and had a love for monarch butterflies.
"He would tell us, you know, like, oh, we need to plant some more milkweed and all these different native plants that the butterflies are attracted to. And so that's kind of what started it."
Doug Sprouse, mayor of Springdale, supported the initiative of the Flight Festival. And as a result signed the Monarch Pledge.
“Which is basically saying that he supports Parks and Recreation in our city to continue planting native plants to not only help our ecosystem, but the butterflies as well. And so that's kind of what started everything. And we just wanted to celebrate that migration of the butterflies."
Natalie says this year the Monarch Flight Festival has great sponsors.
“Some of which are the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, the Springdale Public Library, Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, and several more who are partnering with us and bringing activations to the event to help educate not only the kids, but families as well about the monarch butterflies.”
The Flight Festival will have plenty of activities for kids, like a seed ball-making station and a bilingual storytime about the monarch butterflies. At 1 p.m., the monarch parade starts.
“So that is going to go throughout. We have a walking trail at the park, and so that'll go around the walking trail. And then it'll end at the middle of Luther George Park. And that's where we'll release the butterflies around 1:30."
Natalie says this event is for everyone and anyone.
"We'll have some movement classes as well that kids and other adults can be a part of. We'll have a chalk walk artist who is going to be creating some art on the sidewalk with chalk. And so kids are able to — or really anyone can join in — and add to their design. And it's just a really fun way to get out in your community, learn a little bit more about monarchs and our ecosystem, and just have some fun."
In the past, the Flight Festival was more of a fun festival, but since then, Springdale has decided to try and make this both fun and educational.
"Like, okay, let's educate everyone on why exactly we're doing this, why the monarchs are so important, and just kind of explain their story."
Natalie says the audience for the Flight Festival is those who love nature, and in northwest Arkansas, that's about everyone.
“A lot of people, especially here in Northwest Arkansas, really care about local plants, native plants, taking care of not only one another but of our animals. And so I think the people just around here in Northwest Arkansas really care about that and value that."
Starting at 11 a.m., the festival will have 1,000 free butterfly wings for each child who attends. The event is free, full of family fun, and will take place at Luther George Park in Springdale.
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