Minneapolis Monarch Festival-Festival de la Monarca

Thank You for an Amazing 2024 Minneapolis Monarch Festival!

We’re overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone who joined us today to celebrate the monarch butterfly's migration! From the vibrant performances to the hands-on activities, native plant sales, and incredible educational opportunities, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.

A huge thank you to our volunteers, vendors, performers, and partners who helped make this event possible. And, of course, thank YOU for showing up to support monarch conservation and celebrate the beauty of nature with us. Together, we’re making a difference for monarchs and other pollinators.

Until next year! 🧡🦋

Join us THIS Saturday, September 7th, from 10 AM to 4 PM at Lake Nokomis Park as we celebrate the incredible migration of monarch butterflies!

🦋Festival Schedule Highlights🦋
10:00 AM – Festival Kickoff
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM- Main Stage Performances
12:00 PM- Parade
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM- Monarch Education Activities, Art Activities, Native Plant Sales, Monarch Merch, and Food

📍 Location: By the Lake Nokomis Community Center
🆓 FREE and fun for all ages!

Get ready to learn and explore with our amazing 🦋 Educational Exhibitors 🦋 at the 2024 Minneapolis Monarch Festival! Discover fascinating insights into conservation, wildlife, and more with:

Monarch Joint Venture
Nokomis Naturescape
Wild Ones Twin Cities
MyBirdClub – Youth Birdwatching Club
Hennepin County Library
Metropolitan Council
Minnesota DNR
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Starry Skies North
University of Minnesota Bee Squad
Metro Blooms/Blue Thumb
Minnesota Dragonfly Society
Great River Greening
Three Rivers Park District
Minnesota Zoo
Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa
Bell Museum
Environmental Quality Board
Consulate of Mexico in St. Paul
Stages Theater Company
COPAL
Colectiva Bilingue
St. Helena Catholic School
Climate & Resiliency Group
CERT
City of Minneapolis – Public Health
City of Minneapolis – Air Quality
Hopkins City
Electrifying Everything
City of Richfield
Touch of Magic

Come learn, engage, and be inspired! https://monarchfestival.org/activities/

Festival de la Monarca 2024 This is "Festival de la Monarca 2024" by MLatino Media | Video Production on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Monarch Festival 2023 is going strong!

Brass Messengers The Brass Messengers are a Minneapolis street band playing mostly original music inspired by global sources. The BMs formed from the annual rubble of of the Heart of the Beast Mayday Parade and Ceremony in Minneapolis. The musical origins were found in the music of Africa, the Carribean and Balkans, but now the BMs play whatever works, throwing in a country song to the crying drinkers, a high speed polka or two for the midwest dancers, running in circles with the little ones, activating gatherings of our activist kin or a bit of Black Sabbath for the metal crowd. But mostly, it is an original music that rises from the heart of the band that can only be described as a homegrown Minneapolis street music sound.

The Messengers play stages large and small, events from parties to bars, large theaters to street parades and funerals. The Mess have been a part of the HONK community for nine years running, attending more than ten HONK festivals in Sommerville, Seattle and Austin, TX.

The Bee Lab's mission is to promote the conservation, health, and diversity of bee pollinators through research, education, and hands-on mentorship. We work as a team to provide the richest learning environment for students at all levels and from all backgrounds.

Welcome back, Minnesota Valley Refuge Friends!
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/minnesota-valley

Monarch Odyssey follows the Monarch Butterfly migration from Canada and the United States to the oyamel pine forests of central Mexico. The Monarchs arrive at the end of October and coincide with the Day of the Dead celebration in the state of Michoacán. The locals believe the Monarchs are the souls of their ancestors returning for this magical celebration of life and death.

Monarch Odyssey joins the celebration of Day of the Dead as we observe and participate in the ancient traditions that are still observed along with the modern day traditions that have evolved in this colorful event. Day of the Dead celebrates the arrival of the Monarch Butterflies to thier winter home in the pine forests of the state of Michoacán. The Monarchs are at their peak in January and February after the arrival of millions of migrators that gather in huge colonies that can be observed at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.

Join us to observe and reflect on one of the worlds greatest migrations. There are several locations in the states of Michoacán and Mexíco that we visit. Along the way we celebrate and explore Mexican culture, food and her people at Pueblos Magicos, ancient pyramids and centuries-old haciendas.

Created by the State of Minnesota, the Minnesota Zoo opened in 1978 with a mission to connect people, animals, and the natural world to save wildlife. Cutting-edge exhibits provide exciting experiences with animals and their habitats introducing guests to species from around the globe. Education programs engage audiences at the Zoo, throughout the region, and around world. Conservation programs protect endangered species and preserve critical ecosystems. Learn more about the Minnesota Zoo—our mission, leadership, and history. Minnesota Zoo for Educators

We are Minnesota’s official natural history museum, established by the legislature in 1872 and held in trust by the University of Minnesota. For over a century, the museum has preserved and interpreted our state’s rich natural history and served learners of all ages. Additionally, our scientific collections contain over one million specimens, representing every county in Minnesota and various locales around the globe. Bell Museum

In 2006 Kurt Mead, naturalist and author of Dragonflies of the North Woods, contacted the Minnesota DNR’s Non-Game Program to see about getting some sort of grant to do some research on dragonflies in Minnesota. Minnesota at the time was one of the most under surveyed states for dragonflies in the United States.
Fortunately Kurt’s timing was right as there were funds that were available through matching Federal Fish and Wildlife Department grants and there was interest within the DNR to get more information on Minnesota Odonata. With the help of people in the DNR Non-Game Department Kurt went through the grant proposal process and was awarded a grant to create the Minnesota Odonata Survey Project.
Since the grant money for the MOSP was limited, Kurt decided the best way to survey the state would be to enlist the help of citizen scientist volunteers. At the time there was not much public interest in dragonflies and damselflies, so Kurt decided to hold Odonata workshops around the state. At these workshops he would teach participants the basics of dragonflies, which would hopefully pique their interest, The group would then go out and survey neighboring habitat, providing data that would then be turned into the DNR and the Odonata Central database.
As the years progressed the interest in dragonflies increased. A group of dragonfly enthusiasts formed around the MOSP helping at workshops, participating in surveys, and helping to identify Odonates in the many insect collections at universities around the state. Because of the results generated by the project the funding continued through the DNR. Funding was even provided for targeted surveys, by teams comprised of citizen scientists as well as professionals in the field of odonatology, in lesser-known areas of the state.
MDS Newsletter

By the end of the DNR/USFWS funded project in 2012, the MOSP had amassed over 1800 new county records and had added almost two dozen species to the state list.
Even though the MOSP was officially over in 2012 the momentum was still there. The core group of enthusiasts still had a passion for researching dragonflies and sharing their knowledge with others. After a long year of meetings, brainstorming and lots of hard work (much of which is usually completed by lawyers) our ragtag little band of net-swingers created the Minnesota Dragonfly Society (MDS), a 501c3 non-profit organization.
The mission of the Minnesota Dragonfly Society is: Ensuring the Conservation of Minnesota’s Dragonflies and Damselflies through Research and Education.
MDS members have not only continued the traditions of the MOSP through workshops and surveys, but they have expanded the MOSP footprint by partnering at events such as bioblitzes, nature festivals, schools and other events. The goal is, as it was in the beginning, to get people excited about these charismatic little predators while contributing to the actual science of dragonflies and damselflies in Minnesota.

Come check out the Habitat Tent presented by Wild Ones Twin Cities, Minnesota this Saturday!

You can find their website here: www.wildonestwincities.com

Welcome back Minnesota Department of Natural Resources!
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/

Welcome back Metro Council!
https://metrocouncil.org/

We have so many great artist activities at this year's Monarch Festival!
WOW Mobile Metal Lab and Show was established in 2005 by Sara Hanson - it is known for its collaborative public art installations, workshops/classes, make-and-take events, and educational demonstrations.
WOW celebrates the individual and the collective with accessible programming for all skill levels and ages. WOW is fully mobile and self-contained—we bring the entire cast metal process to you.
Check out more here: https://monarchfestival.org/activities/

Welcom back, Conservation Corps!
https://conservationcorps.org/

A big thank you to our sponsors at Cine Latino MSP Film Festival the upper Midwest’s only showcase of the best new films by Latin American, Iberian and U.S. LatinX filmmakers.

The 11th annual festival features a full array of lively film screenings, engaging filmmaker conversations, and exciting parties to engage the Twin Cities’ growing Spanish-speaking populations and vast community of global cinephiles.

Ballet Folklorico Mexico Azteca educates, preserves and inspires people to celebrate the heritage and beauty of Mexico through the folkloric arts.
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Our Vision is to bring a beat of Mexico to the world.
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Our mission and vision are founded on our love for Mexico, its heritage, culture, and arts, especially its folkloric arts. We hope to share our passion of these things and in doing so, inspire the world to explore the various wonders Mexico has to offer.
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By telling the stories of Mexico's culture and traditions through dance we hope that others will also be inspired to look at their roots, culture, and heritage. These things are, after all, a part of our identities.

Welcome back Audobon Chapter of Minneapolis!
https://www.minneapolisaudubon.org/

WHO WE ARE
Curiosity Studio creates art kits and classes that let you play, reflect and connect with the world.

We ask our participants to come into the space with vulnerability and tend to the parts of themselves that can be overlooked in their day-to-day lives. At times, a class will be a total exploration of a medium and other times there will be no end product to frame on your wall.

Curiosity Studio offers art classes from an art therapy and trauma informed lens that encourage self and community care. Our aim is to consider placemaking and art spaces as a community resource for mental health support. We believe that art has the power to connect members of the community in ways that words alone may not. Through our art therapy lens, students are encouraged to embrace the process.
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We are multifaceted people that are most creative when accessing our whole selves. In exploring our creative process, we always must pay attention and care to our entire spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional selves.
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We aim to build approachable, relational, honest and safe classrooms. We want our creative space to be rooted in connections that expand into our neighborhoods and beyond. When we live in community and celebrate diversity, we experience rich and fulfilling relationships.
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The creative process is about active curiosity: exploration, experimentation, trying, messes, and trying again. It's nice to finish things but we hope this space is more about play and less about the final product.

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We want everyone to have an equal voice in our space. It is our expectation for ourselves and the community we teach to maintain a respectful, gracious, kind, inquisitive, and forgiving space. This is our hope for how we treat our work too.
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We prioritize mindfulness in our consumption as a business: reusing whenever possible and being smart consumers when it is not available. Our goal of sustainability is woven within our business model as a means of inspiration and honoring the resources we have.
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Food brings people together and we want to be together. We also believe we do our best work when we’re not hangry. Each class will have snacks. If you have allergies, let us know.

September 9th should be a perfect day for some 9 YumYum ice cream 🍦

Don't miss out! For more check here: https://monarchfestival.org/activities/

Welcom Back Natural Resources Conservation Service!
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/

Excited to make more art with She’s Bilingüe Art (www.instagram.com/shesbilingueart) at this year's Monarch Festival!

Maria Constanza Carballo best known for turning acrylic paintings as well as murals into voice pieces that highlight the marginalized.

Inspired by her own bicultural and bilingual upbringing as an immigrant in the south Minneapolis Philips community, Maria Constanza began painting murals at the age of 13 and has since been recognized as a statement maker.

Her art, a form of community activism, has travelled through Latin America, Europe, and throughout the U.S. Here in Minnesota, she has brought fellow women artists together internationally and locally through large scale community events to celebrate International Women’s Day and specifically bringing attention to the inequalities women face in all sectors of society including economic, political, workforce, healthcare, and education.

See the full music lineup, food vendors, art activities, and more here: https://monarchfestival.org/activities/

We love Tibetan Family Momo! Come try them out September 9th at this years Monarch Festival!

Want to see who else will be there? Check here: https://monarchfestival.org/activities/

Welcome back, Hennepin County Library!
https://www.hclib.org/

Tropical Zone Orchestra hestra is an award-winning Latin fusion band based out of the Twin Cities. For the last 14 years these Puerto Rican and Minnesotan musicians have come together to form the best Salsa and Merengue fusion band our local music scene has ever seen. From opening shows for big headliners to MN State Fair performances, this band has been all over town.

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¡La Orquesta de la Zona Tropical se presenta hoy a las 3:00 pm en el Festival Monarch de Minneapolis!

Tropical Zone Orchestra es una galardonada banda de fusión latina con sede en Twin Cities. Durante los últimos 14 años, estos músicos puertorriqueños y minnesotanos se han unido para formar la mejor banda de fusión de salsa y merengue que jamás haya visto nuestra escena musical local. Desde espectáculos de apertura para grandes cabezas de cartel hasta presentaciones en la Feria Estatal de MN, esta banda ha estado por toda la ciudad.

Welcome back to the 2023 Monarch Festival Taqueria El Patron!

Find out who else will be there (Sept 9th) here: https://monarchfestival.org/activities/

Welcome back Consulate of Mexico in St. Paul!
https://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/saintpaul/