Celebrate one of the state’s most colorful native pollinators at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association’s 14th annual Butterfly Festival.
The festival also promotes the Watershed Association’s mission to protect clean water and the environment.
“The Butterfly Festival is a fun, hands-on way of demonstrating innovative technologies which will be employed in our new environmental center opening this December. These technologies will allow us to save energy, water and the environment,” Watershed Association executive director Jim Waltman said in a statement.
Attendees can explore four family-friendly “Enviro-Zones,” which teach children and families how they can make a difference for clean water and a healthy environment. Work as a team or individual to answer four kid-friendly questions, get a passport stamp in each zone, and receive a prize.
New this year is a Facebook scavenger hunt, where attendees will receive clues on the Watershed Association’s Facebook page to the location of items hidden throughout the festival area.
Children can also take part in the Butterfly & Bug Costume Parade, scheduled to begin at the Main Stage at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sign up at the festival’s Membership booth upon entry.
Grammy-nominated musical fitness entertainer Miss Amy is set to perform. Miss Amy, who encourages families to engage in physical activity, was awarded the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award for her musical “Fitness Rock & Roll” concerts.
The Dadz, a rock ‘n roll band playing a diversity of music that spans the 50s to the current era, are also scheduled to perform in the afternoon.
Other festival highlights include hay rides, an insect zoo and safari, and local food and artisans.
Raffle tickets will be on sale for the chance to win a five-night cruise for two aboard the historic Maine schooner, J&E Riggin. A 50/50 draw will also take place during the Festival, and cash tickets will be sold throughout the day. Proceeds benefit the Watershed Association and help protect clean water and the environment.
The Butterfly Festival is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Watershed Reserve, 31 Titus Mill Road, Pennington.
Shuttle parking for the festival is provided by Bristol-Myers Squibb across the street from the Watershed Reserve with access from Titus Mill Road.
Admission is $10 per person or $25 per carload.
More information is online at thewatershed.org.
Children dancing with Miss Amy during the 2013 Butterfly Festival.,
