Free, Family-Friendly Monarch Festival Returns To Oak Lawn

OAK LAWN, IL — Celebrate the majestic king of butterflies before they wing their way to the Pacific coast for the winter. Oak Lawn Park District's popular Monarch Festival returns Saturday, Sept. 18. The FREE festival runs 1 to 5 p.m. at the Oak View Center, 4625 W. 110th St.

This family-friendly festival is designed to bring some much-needed awareness to the issues that monarch butterflies face today. Participants will learn how to assist in the preservation of the monarch butterfly species and the environment. This fun family event features live butterfly tagging, a bug zoo, caterpillar aquarium, butterfly arts and crafts for kids, interactive migration game, live music, a movie in the theater, educational booths and much more. Native plant, seed and honey vendors will also be on hand.

In the past 20 years, the monarch population has dropped a billion to 30 million, largely due to habitat destruction. Monarch caterpillars feed and lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed, but the colorful flower is rapidly disappearing from the countryside due to the overuse of herbicides and decline of the native prairie.

The Monarch Butterfly Festival is generously sponsored by Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant Mary Beth Swibes and ComEd. For more information, call 708-857-2200.

This press release was produced by the Oak Lawn Park District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.