The second annual Monarch Butterfly Festival will spread its wings in Peterborough on Saturday, September 21 to raise awareness and funds to keep the monarch butterfly alive and fluttering for years to come.
The free festival, which takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Peterborough’s Millennium Park, features musical performances by Giovanni y Sus Amigos, Indigenous drumming, Zumba dancing, face painting, and environmental presentations, along with a vendor fair showcasing sustainability and biodiversity initiatives.
Before the festival, a fundraising 10-kilometre race and a one-kilometre kids fun run will take place along the Rotary Trail and Otonabee River. Both the race and kids fun run are now sold out, but community members can cheer on the runners along the route.
The festival and race and run are being organized by the Monarch Ultra, a community-led group in Peterborough that raises awareness about the plight of the migratory monarch butterfly, an endangered species threatened by habitat destruction and climate change.
In 2019, the group organized a 4,300-kilometre relay run from Canada to Mexico, followed in 2021 by an 1,800-kilometre relay run within Ontario. The group held the inaugural Monarch Butterfly Festival and Run in Peterborough in October 2023.
Monarch Ultra co-founder Carlotta James spoke with kawarthaNOW about her hopes for this year’s event.
“My greatest hope for the monarch festival and race is to raise awareness about the plight of monarch butterflies, which are in steep decline,” James said. “Community participation through conservation action can have a positive impact not only on biodiversity, but also for creating opportunities for connection and celebration.”
“I want to inspire people to take action, either by donating to our fundraiser for the monarch sanctuary or by planting a garden for pollinators which includes milkweed species, the host plant for monarch butterflies.”
The event is a fundraiser for Nación Verde, a Mexican non-profit environmental organization that is helping to restore habitat loss from deforestation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a media release about the event noted.
Nación Verde works in several areas including conservation, making schoolyards greener, and protecting the environment.
“We have had the privilege of planting more than a million native trees in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve together with the Indigenous communities that live there,” said Diego Leon, project manager for Nación Verde.
“This effort not only translates into (oyamel) fir trees, which are key to the hibernation habitat of the monarchs, but also into economic support for the people who are responsible for the ecosystem services that we all enjoy thanks to the care they give to their forests.”
Meanwhile, James shared a few details about from where her passion for the monarch butterfly stems.
“Monarch butterflies have inspired me in so many ways,” she said. “Their 4,500-kilometre migration from north to south is one of the longest insect migrations on Earth.”
“I often think of monarchs when I’m running endurance trail races, which give me strength to run further, make me aware of my natural surroundings and to continue fighting for this beautiful species — a symbol of resilience.”
The Monarch Ultra’s epic relay run in 2019 from Peterborough to the Sierra Madre Mountains in central Mexico “wasn’t just about running,” James said.
“It was also about connecting with the activists, artists, and the communities who are working tirelessly to shed light on the pressing threats faced by monarch butterflies. The Monarch Ultra is just a humble reminder that through collective action, almost anything is possible.”
All of the donations raised through the Monarch Butterfly Festival and Run will be directed to Nación Verde. For more information about Nación Verde and to make a donation, visit
raceroster.com/events/2024/87399/monarch-ultra-10km/fundraising-organization/55375.
James noted there are also multiple other ways residents can help save monarch butterflies.
“One way is to plant milkweed (the host plant for monarchs) and other nectar-rich flowers that appeal to a wide range of pollinators. Citizens can also influence their local governments to create better policies that protect biodiversity and wild spaces.”
Finally, this year’s event encompasses an art competition for high school students to showcase the beauty of monarch butterflies while encouraging creativity and awareness for youth, organizers noted. The winner of the art competition will receive a tote bag with art supplies from the Art Gallery of Peterborough. The deadline to submit an art piece is Friday, September 20.
For more information about the Monarch Ultra, including the Monarch Butterfly Festival, visit www.themonarchultra.com.
