Image courtesy FHSU University Communications

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center (KWEC) will hold its 12th annual Butterfly Festival on Saturday, September 20, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event celebrates monarch butterflies and the vital role pollinators play in ecosystems.

Attendees can participate in monarch tagging, with nets and tags provided. Volunteers will guide participants through fields and shelter belts to capture and tag butterflies. Tagged monarchs contribute to research by Monarch Watch, helping track migration patterns, origins, mortality rates, and geographic distribution.

Families can enjoy the Butterfly Magic show by Steve Craig at 9:30, 10:30, and 11:15 a.m., which uses magic, puppets, and humor to demonstrate the butterfly life cycle. Guests can also explore a honeybee demonstration hive from Kellie Honey Farm, a Bumblebutt Petting Station by Grassland Groupies, and KWEC’s invertebrate zoo featuring walking sticks, butterflies, caterpillars, tarantulas, and more.

Hands-on activities include making butterfly tealight lanterns, creating monarch butterfly rest stops, navigating a pollinator obstacle course, and shooting seed bombs into the prairie. Free pollinator seed packets will be available while supplies last.

The Central Kansas Partnership’s Suicide Prevention Task Force will host a Walk and Remembrance Ceremony at 7:15 a.m., with attendees able to display painted butterflies honoring loved ones. The Task Force will also have an informational booth during the festival.

Visitors can explore the Melody Marsh in the KWEC Pollinator Garden, featuring native plants that provide nectar and caterpillar host plants for pollinators.

For more information, contact KWEC at 1-877-243-9268 or visit wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu.