Date: June 25-26, 2005 Description: Getting an up-close view of caterpillars and butterflies takes on a whole new meaning at the 2005 Butterfly Festival, where a 22-legged caterpillar is 10-feet long and the wings of a butterfly span six feet. The larger-than-life replications of the festivals guests of honor are among the collection of Waking Dream's eye-catching large-scale puppets that will entertain and delight people of all ages on June 25 and 26 at Cox Arboretum & Gardens MetroPark.
Waking Dream brings a whole new element to the festival, which celebrates the season opening of Ohio's only native Butterfly House. The presenting group, which was funded with grants from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and the DPL Foundation, will be holding teacher and student workshops on large-scale puppetry at the Arboretum on Friday, June 24.
Workshops will provide the opportunity to learn about puppetry design and materials, performance technique and audience engagement. Participants will build a large-scale butterfly puppet that will be included in festival performances. Teachers will also discuss ways to tie large-scale puppetry into an educational program.
Butterfly House enables children and adults to view native butterflies in all stages of metamorphosis. Butterfly House features species such as the Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Monarch, Viceroy, Wood Nymph, Silver Spotted Skipper, Giant Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Tiger Swallowtail, Luna Moth, Cecropia Moth, Pipevine Swallowtail and Buckeye.
In addition to tours of the Butterfly House, the Festival offers a variety of free activities:
The Time Warner Cable Discover & Grow Zone: Youth can explore butterfly and moth life cycles; look at cocoons, wings and antennas under the microscope; dissect flowers; make butterfly crafts; create a giant butterfly mural and participate in other hands-on activities.
Children’s Parade: Children can join Waking Dream in the Butterfly Parade, held at 3:15 p.m. in the gardens. Live Entertainment: Saturday features folk music from Roadblock at 11 a.m. and the Paul Michael Band at 1:30 p.m.; Sunday includes magic by Stan the Magic Man at 11 a.m., jazz by Steven Gregory at noon, The Centerville Community Band at 2 p.m. and TNT Dance Machine at 3:30 p.m. Demonstrations and Tours: Saturday: 11:30 a.m. -- Making a Simple Trellis; 12:30 p.m. -- Tours through Conservation Corner’s natural habitat; 1:30 p.m. --Container Gardening Sunday: 12:30 a.m. -- Tours through Conservation Corner’s natural habitat; 1:30 p.m. -- Designing your own Butterfly Garden; 2:30 p.m. -- Plants for Pennies: Propagating Plants for a Butterfly Garden Butterfly Displays: Displays will feature butterfly gardening and butterfly identification Butterfly Gallery: Vendors, including Greg’s Antiques, the Basket Weaver’s Guild, Devine Gifts and Collectibles, Robbie Designs, Monica Finan, J.D. Hook’s, Usborne Books, The Art Garden, Clowns by Clowns, the Arboretum’s Linden Tree Shop and more, will showcase butterfly-related garden accents, home décor and artwork. Food: Hot dogs, corn dogs, bratwurst, burgers, tacos, nachos and cheese, french fries, pretzels, popcorn, ice cream and other festival fare will be sold. Child ID: MetroPark Rangers will prepare child identification kits, including DNA samples, for parents to use in case of emergencies.
Butterfly Festival activities are free and open to the public. The Festival is sponsored by the DPL Foundation, National City, the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and The Children's Medical Center of Dayton. Additional parking is available in the Bauer School parking lot, directly south of the Arboretum. Also, during the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, visitors can park at St. Henry's directly across the street from the Arboretum and catch a shuttle provided by Time Warner Cable to and from the festival. For More Info: 434-9005