The Mahoosuc Land Trust’s annual Monarch Festival is an effort to raise awareness of habitat loss for some of Maine’s key pollinators and to inspire visitors to enhance their home landscapes to support these threatened pollinators. It is a free, family friendly, community-wide event at the Valentine Farm Conservation Center. Our partnership ensures that the 2024 event can continue to deliver a free, quality educational experience for all.

 

Monarchs are among the most visible and well-known of the local pollinators to frequent the garden, and therefore make a logical poster species for an educational event. They are also critically endangered primarily due to habitat loss. Watching monarch caterpillars munch milkweed leaves, chrysalises hatch into new butterflies, and tagging butterflies before their return to Mexico are interactive ways to engage and educate visitors and to inspire them to plant pollinator-friendly gardens at home.

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The festival is a celebration of the ongoing work in the Habitat for All garden, but it is also an opportunity for visitors to learn more about Mahoosuc Land Trust’s land conservation and other environmental efforts.