Witness hundreds of butterflies floating on the wind! Wander through manicured gardens, visit local artisans, and learn about an amazing pollinator and how we can help them. Join us for Colonial Gardens’ annual Butterfly Festival and experience all this and more! This year, we will be releasing hundreds of butterflies, typically monarch butterflies. All guests are welcome to learn about these magnificent creatures, their lives and their threats during our seminars, patronize our local crafters, and enjoy the gardens. Those folks who make a reservation will have the opportunity to release a butterfly during one of our mass releases. There are four mass release opportunities. Each reservation entitles you to release one butterfly at the timeslot you select: 10AM, 12PM, 2PM, or 4PM. If you do not wish to release a butterfly, you may attend the event for free, without a reservation or ticket. The event also includes: Local artisans, vendors, and nonprofits Four educational seminars about monarch butterflies Lush, beautiful gardens to wander Native and pollinator-friendly plants for purchase Hayrides through our woods for $5/person Because this event is outdoors, we do have a rain date of Sunday, August 24th. We will announce the change in date the morning of the event and alert all guests with reservations via email. For the safety of the butterflies, we will only exercise this option if there is predicted steady rain throughout the event and the forecast is improved for Sunday. This event is pet-friendly, so long as dogs are leashed, friendly, and cleaned up after. In an effort to protect little lungs, we ask that there is no smoking on grounds.
