The first annual Mountain Monarch Festival will be at Gorges State Park in Sapphire, Saturday, Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. This event, hosted by the park and sponsored by Friends of Gorges State Park and other partners, will celebrate the monarch butterfly during its migration and bring attention to the species declining numbers. As the park lies along the monarch’s migratory route, butterflies can be seen in late September annually flying over the park’s visitor center on their way south to the high-elevation fir forests of Mexico’s Neovolcanic Mountains, where they overwinter until early spring.
The festival offers educational programs and exhibits as well as fun for the whole family, including children’s crafts, face painting, a butterfly hike and a Monarch Migration Passport to lead all through the activities. A keynote presentation will be offered by Heyward Douglas, an entomologist who has worked as a park naturalist and served on the Foothills Trail Conservancy’s board of directors since 1989. Douglas has visited the monarch’s wintering area in Mexico.
Live music will be provided by Hawk Mountain with Collin Cheek and the food truck will be “Here’s the Deal.” Friends of Gorges State Park are the sponsors for the Mountain Monarch Festival in partnership with Monarch Watch, N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, N.C. Department of Commerce, Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority, Killer Bee’s Honey, Social Burro, DD Bullwinkel’s Outdoors/Moose Tracks Footwear, Revolutionary Canine of the Carolinas, Historic Toxaway Market and Weichart Realtors Mountain Executives.
The event, music and programs are free and open to the public. There will be local art, honey and native plants for sale. The park requests that those who plan to attend register by emailing “Monarch Festival Registration” and the number of people in your party to gorges@ncparks.gov. The festival will be held rain or shine.
For event details, visit www.friendofgorges.org.