Tag: Texas Butterfly Ranch

2022 Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival

Brackenridge Park Conservancy announces this year’s Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival in Brackenridge Park. Photo: Google

The Brackenridge Park Conservancy, in partnership with the Texas Butterfly Ranch, is proud to present the 2022 Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival. The event  will take place Saturday, October 8 from 10a.m. to 2p.m. in the Pecan Grove at Brackenridge Park as part of a month-long celebration of pollinators. Festivities include the People for Pollinators Parade, a monarch butterfly migration obstacle course for kids, butterfly tagging, live bee hive demonstrations, and more. (Brackenridge Park Conservancy, 2022)

The festival is free and open to the public and brings together more than 20 community partners to educate the community on the importance of the monarch butterfly and other pollinators. Activities for the whole family will take place starting at 10a.m. with the Caterpillar Train launching from the train depot in the park. The train was transformed with the assistance of local landscape architecture firm MP Studios and the beloved and nostalgic San Antonio Zoo train will be converted to a monarch butterfly caterpillar for the month of October.

“Brackenridge Park is thrilled to host the 2022 Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival. The Park means so much to the people, plants and animals in this city so we look forward to being a home to free and fun educational events like this.” – Lynn Osborne Bobbitt, Brackenridge Park Conservancy Director of Development and Special Events

Throughout the day, visitors can tag monarch butterflies with trained docents as part of the Monarch Watch citizen science initiative. Festival goers can also participate in the Forever Journey, a program started in 2020 that tags butterflies in honor of deceased loved ones.

“Just as San Antonio sits in the heart of the migratory flyway for monarch butterflies and other wildlife, Brackenridge sits in the heart of our city. It makes for an ideal roost for this year’s Festival.” – Monika Maeckle, Festival founder and director of the Texas Butterfly Ranch.

More initiatives from this year’s festival include a monarch migration obstacle course organized by Blooming with Birdie, butterfly bike rides with the Austin Bike Zoo, a birding tour of the park and adoption events for hundreds of trees provided by the San Antonio Parks Department and pollinator-friendly native plants made available by SAWS. 

The Brackenridge Park Conservancy has listened to and been a voice for those who use this cherished San Antonio park and its facilities. The organization operates under a long-term Management Agreement with the City that is administered by the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department. The only organization dedicated solely to protecting Brackenridge Park, the Conservancy raises funds for projects that benefit the Park, implements park-based programs and projects, advises City staff and elected officials, supports the evolution and implementation of plans for the Park, and acts as a forum for users to address common issues and build consensus.

The mission of the Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival is to raise understanding and appreciation of the insect pollinators that make one of every three bites of our food possible, underscore our inherent interconnectedness, encourage the use of native nectar and host plants in gardens and landscapes, and reinforce San Antonio’s strategic role in the monarchs’ annual migration as the First Monarch Butterfly Champion City.

 

Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival 2018 at Pearl

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This year’s Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival will take place at the Pearl on Friday October 19 and Sunday October 21. Photo: Matt Buikema, used with permission.

The Texas Butterfly Ranch and Pearl are excited to announce the third annual Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival at Pearl. The event takes place during peak Monarch migration season when migrating Monarchs pass through Texas from the east, on their way to Mexico to roost for the winter. (Pearl, 2018)

The celebration kicks off with a Butterflies Without Borders Forum at Pearl Stable on Friday October 19 and continues throughout the weekend with a People for Pollinators Parade, monarch butterfly tagging, educational demonstrations, musical performances and the highly anticipated butterfly release at noon. Costumes are encouraged. To view the events taking place around the city, visit Texas Butterfly Ranch online.

Scheduled events:

● Butterflies Without Borders Forum at Pearl Stable – Friday, October 19 from 11:30a.m. to 1:30p.m. Tickets available online.

● Monarch Butterfly &Pollinator Festival at Pearl – Sunday, October 21 between 10a.m. and 2p.m.- Event is free and open to the public

○ 10a.m. – People for Pollinators Parade begins at Pearl Park
○ 11a.m. – Performance by Azul Barrientos at Pearl Park
○ 10:30a.m. and 12:30p.m. – SAWS Pollinator Garden Workshop at Pearl Studio (registration required; $10)
○ 12p.m. – Butterfly release at Pearl Park
○ 1:30p.m. – Book Fairy Storytime at Pearl Parkito
○ 1p.m. – Volcán Performance
○ Ongoing – Butterfly tagging demonstrations, face painting, kite building, educational activities and more.

Historic Pearl District
Various locations throughout Pearl property
312 Pearl Parkway
San Antonio, TX  78215

Second annual Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival

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The second annual Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival is scheduled for October 20 through October 22, 2017. Photo: Monarch Butterfly Festival, used with permission.

The second annual Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival will take place this month from Friday October 20 to Sunday October 22, 2017. This three-day event is organized by the Texas Butterfly Ranch and the theme this year is Butterflies without Borders. The goal is to raise awareness and appreciation of the insect pollinators that make food possible. This celebration takes place during peak Monarch migration week in San Antonio, which generally occurs during the last two weeks of October. Each year, millions of the migrating black-and-orange butterflies move through the “Texas Funnel” on their way to Mexico to roost for the winter. Studies suggest the eastern migrating Monarch population has dropped more than 60% in recent years and the insect has been petitioned for listing as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. A full schedule of planned events is available online. (Monarch Butterfly Festival, 2017)

With the generous support from The Pearl, The San Antonio River Authority, HEB, the Rivard Report, Trinity University and the Mexican Cultural Institute, the Festival begins on Friday October 20, with an international scientific symposium at the Pearl Stable. Scientists from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada will explore the intersections of pollinators and politics in a Butterflies without Borders panel discussion: The Monarch Migration and our Changing Climate. On Saturday, there will be various art and education events throughout town including a teacher training workshop at the San Antonio River Authority, a “bug lunch” at the Witte, a butterfly walk and talk at the San Antonio Botanical Garden and art events at Yanaguana Gardens and the Mexican Cultural Institute.

On Sunday October 22, there will be a “People for Pollinators Parade” at the Pearl and costumes are encouraged. The parade route will march down Pearl Parkway and trained docents will teach kids the citizen science of tagging Monarch butterflies. More than 20 educational booths will offer education, engagement and fun. Tagged Monarch butterflies will be released at the Pearl amphitheater at noon. There will be numerous activities including Pedaling Pollinators Butterfly Bikes, face painting, kite making, story time by the Book Fairy, food and music.