Monarch Butterfly Festival

13620 7th Street,Dade City FL 33525

22 October, 2022

Description

The Dade City Youth Council and the Dade City Garden Club are sponsoring a free, fun, family event aimed to educate and celebrate the Monarch Butterfly here in Dade City, FL. The event will feature environmental educators, informational booths, presentations, native plant sale, and face painting and hands on activities for the kids! Have you heard the news? The Jolley Trolley is coming to town for the Monarch Butterfly Festival! The Festival will be held on Saturday, October 22, 2022, at Polly Touchton Park (7th Street & Bougainvillea Avenue) in Dade City from 10 am to 3 pm . Visitors will be able to park downtown and hop on the FREE trolley to the Festival from 9:30 am to 3 pm, thanks to the support of our generous Trolley Sponsors, Alston Electric and McClain Alfonso P.A. One location will be adjacent to the Robert B. Sumner Judicial Center at 38033 Live Oak Avenue and the other location at The Spoke—Dade City Market Place and Visitors Center at 37800 Church Avenue. Parking is available in City and County owned lots and many other areas around the downtown. Created in 2019 as a celebration of the City’s commitment to becoming a Monarch City USA, the Festival will feature environmental educators, informational booths, presentations, native plant sales, a variety of vendors and hands-on activities for the kids! Visitors will be able to view live displays of butterflies, caterpillars, and chrysalis while learning about the life cycle of the butterfly, presented by the Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation. Mini-presentations scheduled throughout the day will offer tips on how to enjoy wildlife at home, including why it is important to plant native, how to capture butterflies and bees—with any camera, and how to manage yard pests responsibly. Community booths staffed by Pasco County Florida Friendly Landscaping, Pasco County Master Gardeners, Pasco County Recycling, Pasco County Animal Services and Pasco County Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources will be on hand to meet with the public and share information, resources, and opportunities to enhance their quality of life. Shoppers will have their desires satisfied at the event’s eclectic market. A plant sale will feature a large assortment of native plants as well as other perennials, annuals, shrubs, garden art and accessories. The Birds, Bees and Butterflies Committee of the garden club will be selling two varieties of native milkweed and encourages shoppers to come early before this much sought-after plant is sold out. They will also be offering a limited number of a cane begonia variety named "AYA". Although not a butterfly plant, this variety is easy to grow and a great plant to help build confidence in a new gardener. A variety of other vendors will present a unique shopping opportunity with everything from home décor items to handcrafted products to jewelry, and more. The Kids’ Zone will be the place to be for family fun at the Festival, where arts and crafts, face painting and games will take center stage. This year’s Kids’ Zone is sponsored by The Touchton Family, whose ancestor, “Miss Polly” Touchton, is the community leader for whom Touchton Park is named. Returning this year will be Dade City’s own Sky High Stilt Walking Monarch butterfly, who will entertain and delight kids of all ages throughout the day. The featured hands-on activities are being presented by the Pasco County Library System, the Poinsettia Circle of the garden club and the Dade City Heritage Museum. Miles the Butterfly will again flutter over to the Festival from his home at the Dade City Heritage Museum and will provide a colorful and fun place for families to gather as they learn about the Monarch butterfly. Delicious Mexican food including tacos and fresh fruit cups as well as pulled pork sandwiches will be available for visitors to enjoy. The Dade City Garden Club is offering an Opportunity Drawing in conjunction with the celebration. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards underwriting the costs of the Dade City Monarch Butterfly Festival and the educational and environmental mission of the Dade City Garden Club’s Monarch Project. The members of the Dade City Garden Club have put together the Grand Prize of a hand-crafted wood raised garden bed, 5 bags of Jungle Growth, metal watering can, big grip garden knife, book on container gardening, soft touch pruning snips, garden gloves, Mason bee house, herb plant markers, five (5) butterfly plants (two host plants and three nectar), and native milkweed seeds. Winner to be drawn at the Dade City Monarch Butterfly Festival on October 22, 2022. Winner need not be present to win. The ongoing theme highlighted throughout the day is everyone can make a difference! Municipalities, community groups and even individuals can help save the Monarchs by taking a few simples steps. Through our collective efforts, our community can help all pollinators, improve our environment, and make Dade City a better place to live, play and work. The Dade City Garden Club and the Dade City Youth Council thanks our awesome sponsors: MONARCH LEVEL—Lanky Lassie Shortbread, The Canadian Medstore, and The Touchton Family; CHRYSALIS LEVEL—Tom Parks/Nye Commercial Advisors, Rocycle and TECO Energy; CATERPILLAR LEVEL— Bob Larkin Construction, Interglobal Products, Jarrett Ford, Meridian Title, Peterson Insurance, San Antonio Citizens FCU, Savory Roots Catering, The Spoke, and Two Ole Hens Too; EGG LEVEL— Florida Cracker Lunch on Limoges Blair Hensley & Ethan Hensley, Mona and Dave Goossens, Julie Hale, Robert and Jeannette Hatfield, Sally Redden, Rustic Elegance, and Mary Ann Yackel; MILKWEED LEVEL— Judie and Bill Critchley, and Not a Clue Adventures. Our media sponsors are The Laker News/Lutz and NatureCoaster.com.