BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:623@newtonconservators.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250913T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250913T113000 DTSTAMP:20250913T114524Z URL:https://newtonconservators.org/events/fifth-annual-newton-monarch-fest ival/ SUMMARY:Fifth Annual Newton Monarch Festival DESCRIPTION:Celebrate Nature at the Fifth Annual Newton Monarch Festival!\n Get ready for a day of family fun and monarch magic! The Fifth Annual Newt on Monarch Festival is fluttering into Wellington Park\, West Newton on Sa turday\, September 13th\, 2025\, from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM.\n\nThis free co mmunity 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.\n\nEvent Details\n\n Date: Saturday\, September 13\, 2025\n Time: 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM\n Rain Date: Sunday\, September 14\, 2025 (unlikely due to predicted sunshine and 60F temp on Saturday!) \n Location: Wellington Park\, Kilburn Road\, West Newton MA\n Registra tion:    If haven't already\, please register below to help us plan for a successful day.\n\nWhat to Expect at the Monarch Festival\n\n Live Mon arch Encounters: Kids have a natural fascination with nature and butterfl ies and will enjoy\nseeing monarchs up close in every stage of their life cycle – from tiny eggs and munching caterpillars to fascinating chrysali ses and newly emerged adult butterflies. We expect to be releasing some!\n Butterfly Garden Tours: Explore Wellington Park's beautiful gardens\, f eaturing 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 t ypical milkweeds for our New England region - Common Milkweed\, Swamp Milk weed\, and Butterfly Milkweed.  Wellington Park has two large gardens con taining these types of milkweed as well as other colorful native flowers a nd plants attractive to Monarchs and other pollinators.\n Kids' Zone: En joy a variety of butterfly-themed games\, activities\, arts &\; crafts\ , and coloring sheets\, courtesy of the Newton Parks\, Recreation\, and Cu lture Department.  Channon Ames\, Recreation Manager and Camp Director o f Albemarle Acres for Newton\, will be supervising the fun.  Local face-p ainter\, Lada M\, will be on site under the trees if you would like some b utterfly decoration (ages 3+).  In addition\, Wellington Park has swings\ , a toddler play area\, and a sensory dome play structure for older childr en.\n 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 varieti es like Common Milkweed\, Swamp Milkweed\, or Butterfly Milkweed in your g arden. Pick up som free milkweed plants and seeds at the festival to hel p you get started!  We will provide a sheet with planting instructions a nd guidelines.  If you  have milkweed plants\, seeds\, or seed pods  t o share\, please bring them along to our Exchange table. Please label seed s (in small bags or envelopes) and plants according to the type of milkwee d.\n Expert Insights: Meet local monarch experts who maintain official M onarch Waystations and raise monarchs for educational purposes. Learn thei r tips for attracting these pollinators to your own garden.  Monarch ent husiast Kim Devore\, (the “Monarch Lady of Cabot Street”) and others w ill be on hand and be happy to share methods and tips for supporting Monar chs.  If you have a garden containing milkweed and other pollinator plant s to help sustain the Monarch population\, we’d love to have you come an d share your knowledge!\n Giant Butterfly:  See the giant painted monarc h butterfly created by artist Jenn Houle for Newton Cultural Development's Flutter Project.\n Prize Drawings: Registered attendees will have a fre e chance to win exciting butterfly-related prizes!\n Directions &\; Pa rking:\nWellington Park is located in West Newton\, a few blocks north of West Newton Square. Park entrances are on Kilburn Road and Princess Roa d (near Princess and Lindbergh Ave).  Please note: Parking is permitted only on the southbound side of Kilburn Road due to its narrowness. Additi onal on-street parking can be found on nearby streets such as Henshaw Stre et\, 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 .\n Attendance is FREE!\nWe encourage you to register below to receive i mportant weather-related updates and information about future pollinator e vents and be eligible for the free prize drawings.   When you arrive\, please check in at the green Newton Conservators tent and look for the pos ted schedule of events with tour and session times.\n Presented By:\nThe Newton Monarch Festival is presented and cosponsored by Newton Conservator s\, Newton Parks Recreation and Culture Department\, Newton Community Poll inator Project\, Green Newton\, Friends of Cold Spring Park\, Friends of W ellington Park\, and Mothers Out Front Newton.  There will be representat ives on hand from many of these fine organizations in case you wanted to l earn more about them.\n\nIf interested in volunteering to help make this d ay a success or report on your monarch experience this year\,  contact Te d Kuklinski tkuklinski@aol.com.  Hope to see you on Saturday\, September 13th at the Newton Monarch Festival celebration!\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newtonconservators.org/wp-content/upload s/2025/07/Monarch-Painting-by-Jenn-Houle.jpg CATEGORIES:Newton Community Pollinator Project,Recreation & Culture,Special Events LOCATION:Wellington Park\, Kilburn Road\, Newton\, MA\, United States GEO:42.354499;-71.227462 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Kilburn Road\, Newton\, MA\ , United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Wellington Park:geo:42.354499,- 71.227462 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250309T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR