Lake Katherine to Unveil Education Tent at Monarch Festival

Nature lovers will line up to learn how to aid the ailing monarch butterfly at this year’s Monarch Festival all thanks to a new education tent.

Lake Katherine’s 23rd annual fall festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13 with a host of attractions to celebrate the monarch migration down to Mexico plus all things harvest.

This year, for the first time, naturalists at the non-profit park are proud to unveil a fascinating education tent to teach young and old everything they need to know about the beautiful but struggling species of butterfly.

In the past 20 years the monarch population has dropped from a billion to 30 million largely because of 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 tent will be there to teach people what they can do,” says Lake Katherine’s operations manager Gareth Blakesley. “We’ll have tips on how to create your own pollinator project and will be imparting practical advice on the small things we can all do to aid the monarch butterfly. They’ll be milkweed seeds for purchase and we’ll provide a fascinating insight into the life of a monarch butterfly and its incredible annual journey migrating to Mexico.”

Other attractions at the festival include a butterfly tent, arts & crafts fair, hayrides, face painting, scarecrow making, book readings, canoe & kayak rentals, live animals, children’s farm, children’s games and crafts and food vendors.

Volunteers at Lake Katherine are also creating a fun ‘migration maze’ through the prairie to bring the monarch migration to life for both children and adults.

Tickets cost $6 with free entrance to children age 3 and under. On the day festival-goers will be able to park at Palos Heights City Hall and take a free shuttle to Lake Katherine.

Throughout 2015 Lake Katherine has been a major force in helping improve the environmental conditions of the monarch butterfly and encouraging the community to lend a hand in this effort.

Prior to the event Lake Katherine are offering local businesses the opportunity to promote their trade and support the Monarch butterfly by becoming official sponsors of the Monarch Festival.

Alternatively nature lovers can pledge to become family sponsors of the Monarch Festival through a $25 donation. In return Lake Katherine will add family names to full color, cut-out monarch butterflies which will be displayed throughout the Nature Center during the summer and fall months.

For more information about sponsorship opportunities please contact Kate Coughlin, development coordinator at lake.development@lakekatherine.org

PHOTO CAPTION: Monarch butterflies at Lake Katherine’s Monarch Festival in September 2014.