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Celebrate Nature at the Fifth Annual Newton Monarch Festival!
Get ready for a day of family fun and monarch magic! The Fifth Annual Newton Monarch Festival is fluttering into Wellington Park, West Newton on Saturday, September 13th, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM.
This free community event is perfect for all ages, especially kids who are naturally fascinated by the wonders of nature and butterflies. Join us for a unique opportunity to learn about these incredible creatures and discover how you can help protect them.
Event Details
- Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025
- Time: 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM
- Rain Date: Sunday, September 14, 2025 (unlikely due to predicted sunshine and 60F temp on Saturday!)
- Location: Wellington Park, Kilburn Road, West Newton MA
- Registration: If haven’t already, please register below to help us plan for a successful day.
What to Expect at the Monarch Festival
- Live Monarch Encounters: Kids have a natural fascination with nature and butterflies and will enjoy
seeing monarchs up close in every stage of their life cycle – from tiny eggs and munching caterpillars to fascinating chrysalises and newly emerged adult butterflies. We expect to be releasing some! - Butterfly Garden Tours: Explore Wellington Park’s beautiful gardens, featuring native milkweed and other pollinator-friendly plants crucial for monarch survival, led by master gardener Ann Dorfman and Parks and Rec Commission member Mark Feldhusen. Get to know and recognize the three typical milkweeds for our New England region – Common Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed, and Butterfly Milkweed. Wellington Park has two large gardens containing these types of milkweed as well as other colorful native flowers and plants attractive to Monarchs and other pollinators.
- Kids’ Zone: Enjoy a variety of butterfly-themed games, activities, arts & crafts, and coloring sheets, courtesy of the Newton Parks, Recreation, and Culture Department. Channon Ames, Recreation Manager and Camp Director of Albemarle Acres for Newton, will be supervising the fun. Local face-painter, Lada M, will be on site under the trees if you would like some butterfly decoration (ages 3+). In addition, Wellington Park has swings, a toddler play area, and a sensory dome play structure for older children.
- Milkweed Exchange: Monarchs rely on milkweed for their survival for laying eggs and as food for their caterpillar stage. To help these incredible insects, consider planting New England native milkweed varieties like Common Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed, or Butterfly Milkweed in your garden. Pick up som free milkweed plants and seeds at the festival to help you get started! We will provide a sheet with planting instructions and guidelines. If you have milkweed plants, seeds, or seed pods to share, please bring them along to our Exchange table. Please label seeds (in small bags or envelopes) and plants according to the type of milkweed.
- Expert Insights: Meet local monarch experts who maintain official Monarch Waystations and raise monarchs for educational purposes. Learn their tips for attracting these pollinators to your own garden. Monarch enthusiast Kim Devore, (the “Monarch Lady of Cabot Street”) and others will be on hand and be happy to share methods and tips for supporting Monarchs. If you have a garden containing milkweed and other pollinator plants to help sustain the Monarch population, we’d love to have you come and share your knowledge!
- Giant Butterfly: See the giant painted monarch butterfly created by artist Jenn Houle for Newton Cultural Development’s Flutter Project.
- Prize Drawings: Registered attendees will have a free chance to win exciting butterfly-related prizes!
- Directions & Parking:
Wellington Park is located in West Newton, a few blocks north of West Newton Square. Park entrances are on Kilburn Road and Princess Road (near Princess and Lindbergh Ave). Please note: Parking is permitted only on the southbound side of Kilburn Road due to its narrowness. Additional on-street parking can be found on nearby streets such as Henshaw Street, Henshaw Place, Henshaw Terrace, Lindbergh Avenue, Southgate Park, Northgate Park, and Byrd Ave. When parking on these residential streets, please be courteous to neighbors and park on the same side as other cars. - Attendance is FREE!
We encourage you to register below to receive important weather-related updates and information about future pollinator events and be eligible for the free prize drawings. When you arrive, please check in at the green Newton Conservators tent and look for the posted schedule of events with tour and session times. - Presented By:
The Newton Monarch Festival is presented and cosponsored by Newton Conservators, Newton Parks Recreation and Culture Department, Newton Community Pollinator Project, Green Newton, Friends of Cold Spring Park, Friends of Wellington Park, and Mothers Out Front Newton. There will be representatives on hand from many of these fine organizations in case you wanted to learn more about them.
If interested in volunteering to help make this day a success or report on your monarch experience this year, contact Ted Kuklinski tkuklinski@aol.com. Hope to see you on Saturday, September 13th at the Newton Monarch Festival celebration!
