On October 12, 2019, Gamble Garden held its first-ever Monarch Festival, celebrating monarch butterflies and pollinators everywhere. Coinciding with the western monarch’s migration to the coast, the festival is an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the monarch, its life cycle and how each of us can help to ensure its existence and the survival of all pollinators.
Activities include hands-on arts and crafts designed for learning, games, education tables, and live monarch life cycle displays.
The Carriage House hosted a series of short talks for all ages on monarchs and pollinators.
Each family took home a free milkweed plant, with instructions on how to grow it and a sign designating their garden as monarch-friendly.
To cap off the festival, families assembled outside the Carriage House for a monarch butterfly parade. Led by Gamble Garden Director Richard Hayden, the group “migrated” from the Carriage House to the Pollinator Garden. Children waved monarch butterfly wands crafted by the Garden Club of Palo Alto, and skipped to the tune of “When the Saints Come Marching In”.
The highlight of the parade was the monarch butterfly release, presided by Eleanor Laney. Everyone clapped as a group of colorful butterflies flew out into the fall sky.
Many thanks to our speakers — Eleanor Laney, Elizabeth Newell, and Ray Schryver — for sharing their time and talents. Additional thanks to our volunteers and to our Monarch Festival partners for their help and support in making this event such a success.
Additional resources:
- Learn about the Garden Club of Palo Alto’s Monarch Butterfly Project
- Watch a video recording of Eleanor Laney’s butterfly talk on Gamble’s Facebook page.
- Watch a video of Elizabeth Newell’s bee talk on the Gamble Facebook page.
- Watch a video of Ray Schryver’s monarch butterfly puppet show on the Gamble Facebook page
- Find out where to view monarch butterflies in the Bay Area
- Learn about ways to attract monarch butterflies to your garden