The Oak Grove Tourism Commission is inviting the community to its 17th annual Butterfly Festival where folks can witness the release thousands of butterflies and learn about the role the little insects play in the environment.
Since it began in 2008, the festival has greatly grown. At the first festival 300 Monarch Butterflies were released, and now the commission is planning to let around 2,600 butterflies loose in the wild.
Scarlett Mayfield from the commission says this year’s festival is set to include more educational activities and sessions. Mayfield says they are partnering with Fort Campbell to spotlight the roles certain plants and animals play in the ecosystem and how people can take better care of the environment.
Then the festival’s stage show will feature the Agri-Puppets who are set to entertain kiddos and spotlight the importance of agriculture. Mayfield says the festival will also include train rides, ziplining, a petting zoo, face painting, a balloon artist, military vehicles, food trucks, a butterfly house and much more.
Then the butterfly release will conclude the festival. Mayfield says the butterflies will be released from their enclosure at 4 p.m. in the field in front of the Viceroy Amphitheater.
The Butterfly Festival takes over the Oak Grove War Memorial Walking Trail on September 6 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free to attend.