Dunwoody Nature Center hosts 30th annual Butterfly Experience

By Hannah E. Jones

The average butterfly can fly up to 12 miles per hour — beautiful yet just out of reach. But at the Dunwoody Nature Center’s (DNC) upcoming event, that’s a different story.

Now in its 30th year, the DNC team is hosting its annual immersive Butterfly Experience. With around 1,800 butterflies and about eight species, visitors will have the chance for an up-close and personal encounter with the colorful winged insects.

What began as a small, half-day program that attracted a few hundred people has since blossomed into a multi-day event bringing in nearly 3,000 visitors. The family-friendly event, held on Sept. 9 and 10, will include butterfly encounters along with crafts, performances and educator-led activities. 

There will be three tents set up around the campus, each containing about 600 butterflies. There, visitors can dip a sponge brush into nectar which will attract the butterflies to their hands. This experience will allow folks to interact with the insects in a different way, watching their proboscises unfurl as they take a drink.

“Most of the time when you’re looking at butterflies, they’re just fluttering past and you barely get to look at them,” said Darcy Johnson, DNC’s marketing manager who is organizing the event. “You can notice that they’re pretty but you don’t really get to see truly how cool and beautiful they are. That’s one of the great things about the butterfly tents, you get to observe them up close and see how delicate they are.”

The butterflies are shipped from a farm in Kentucky and are placed into small, envelope-like packages with ice packs that mimic winter and allow them to go dormant. All of the species are native to Georgia, including monarchs and red admirals, so the butterflies can be released after the event.

Also on campus is a Pollinator Pathway, featuring activities at several crafts stations, including pollinator-themed projects, tie-dye and face painting. Additionally, visitors can stop by the educational booths to learn more about our pollinators, like the Peculiar Pollinators which highlights pollinators other than bees and butterflies. 

On Friday, Sept. 8, the day before the Butterfly Experience kicks off, the DNC team will also host Butterflies & Brews — the 21-and-over version of the event. Still channeling the same childlike feel, this program will include butterfly tents, live music, birds of prey show, a raffle and plenty of libations.

Whether coming for a date night or a family fun day, Johnson hopes that folks learn more about the insects and the important role pollinators play within our ecosystems.

“I hope that [visitors] walk away with a new appreciation or newfound interest in nature,” Johnson said. “Maybe they learned something that they didn’t know, like the [word] ‘proboscis.’ We’re always trying to promote that love for nature. We’re also hoping that some people who maybe didn’t know about us now want to learn more about the Dunwoody Nature Center.”