September 10, 2026

By FHSU University Marketing and Strategic Communications

HAYS, Kan. – The Kansas Wetlands Education Center’s 13th annual Butterfly Festival will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Each year, millions of monarch butterflies undertake their annual fall flight to Mexico. Nets and tags will be available during the event for those who want to capture and tag monarch butterflies.

Participants head out into the flower-filled fields and the shelter belt around the KWEC to capture monarchs, with tagging leaders stationed along the trail to assist with tagging. For the past several years, monarchs tagged at the event have been recovered at three roost sites in Mexico.

On the way to Mexico, data collected from tagged monarchs helps support Monarch Watch's research. Tagging helps answer questions about the origins of monarchs that reach Mexico, the timing and pace of migration, mortality during the migration, and changes in geographic distribution.

Kansas City-based StoneLion Puppet Theatre will present the Bubba and Trixie show in our auditorium at 9:30, 10:30, and 11:15 a.m. Bubba is a scaredy-cat caterpillar too afraid to leave his leaf until he meets the fearless Trixie, a crimped wing ladybug. Amazing adventures happen until winter sets in, and Bubba must make a new journey … into a butterfly; a story of true friendship and facing your fears. When you arrive at the festival, be sure to secure free tickets to attend the show at one of the scheduled times.

Kellie Honey Farm from Larned will be present, with a demonstration hive on display in the exhibit hall, to educate visitors about the importance of honeybees.

KWEC will also feature an invertebrate zoo, with giant walking stick insects, butterflies, caterpillars, chrysalises, fluorescing scorpions, a tarantula, and more.

Kids can make a Perler bead butterfly magnet craft in our classroom, race through a pollinator obstacle course, and earn a temporary butterfly tattoo. They can also contribute to community art by helping replace the mural panels in the Melody Marsh with fresh designs. Other activities include using a slingshot to shoot seed bombs, full of potential pollinator blooms, out into our prairie, and taking home their very own packet of seeds.

New this year is Agents of Discovery, an AI-powered augmented reality experience. Using a smartphone, visitors can learn more about pollinators and butterfly migration by completing challenges at learning stops along our nature trail.

For more information, contact the KWEC at 1-877-243-9268 or visit: wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu.

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center, affiliated with FHSU's Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics, is located 10 miles northeast of K-156 Hwy. Great Bend, Kan. 67530.