Mark your calendars, butterfly and pollinator fans. San Antonio’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival @Pearl will take place October 21 – 22 this fall during peak Monarch butterfly migration week.
The event, organized by the Texas Butterfly Ranch, will celebrate the majesty of the Monarch butterfly migration and the insect pollinators that make one of every three bites of food we eat possible. Also: we hope to honor San Antonio’s unique geographic location on the Monarch flighway, its status as America’s first and only Monarch Champion City (so named by the National Wildlife Federation), the interconnectedness of our world, and our special relationship with Mexico.
With founding sponsorship from the Pearl, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio River Authority, HEB, the Rivard Report and Trinity University, Saturday’s events will be FREE and open to the public.
Dr. Cuahetemoc Saenz-Romero –Courtesy photo
Festivities kick off Friday evening, October 21, 6 – 9 PM, at the Pearl Studio with a symposium: Climate Change and the Monarch butterfly migration.
Confirmed speakers include Dr. Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero, a PhD in forestry from Michoacán, Mexico. Dr. Sáenz-Romero has proposed moving the forest where the Monarch butterflies roost 2,000 feet higher in elevation since changing climate suggests that within 20 years, the forest will no longer be able to survive increased temperatures.
Catalina Trail on the cover of National Geographic in 1976
Also confirmed: Catalina Trail, the woman from Morelia, who at the age of 25 “discovered” the Monarch butterfly roosting sites in 1975. Trail, who now lives in Austin, appears on the August 1976 cover of National Geographic, which announced the news to scientists and the world.
Saturday, October 22, a People’s Pollinator Parade led by Earnabike Coop and San Antonio’s own Pedaling Pollinators butterfly bike troupe will convene and “migrate” through the Pearl complex. Costumes are encouraged.
Hundreds of tagged Monarch butterflies will be released in waves during the Festival. Ongoing demonstrations of How and Why to Tag a Monarch butterfly will take place.
Partner organizations will offer arts, crafts and learning activities for kids of all ages while our friends at the Pearl Farmer’s Market will feature the many insect pollinated foods that make one of every three bites of our food possible.
The EarnaBike Coop’s Pedaling Pollinators will lead the People for Pollinator Parade. Courtesy Photo
Restaurants at the Pearl will highlight foods made possible by pollinators while drinking establishments will offer “The Monarch” a special cocktail created especially for the Festival.
Special thanks to our sponsors for making the Monarch butterfly and pollinator festival at Pearl possible.
SPONSORSHIPS are still available. Check back here for schedules and updates.
Related posts:
- San Antonio named Monarch Champion city by National Wildlife Federation
- Founder of Monarch butterfly roosting sites lives quiet life in Austin, Texas
- How to tag a Monarch butterfly in six easy steps
- USFWS gets three more years to assess Monarch butterfly ESA status
- Scientists try to assess damage after freak Mexican freeze
- Coming soon? Grupo Mexico copper mine in heart of Monarch butterfly roosting sites?
- Good news! Monarch butterfly population triples
- NAFTA Leaders, Monsanto: Let’s Save the Monarch Butterfly Migration
- First Lady Michelle Obama plants first pollinator garden at White House
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