Blooms & Butterflies

18Jun2022Saturday 8:30 am-4:00 pmBlooms & Butterflies will be BACK in 2023! The info below is for the event 2022 — read on to get an idea of what happens during the festival!

It is time to CELEBRATE the return of the Blooms & Butterflies to our area at a fun, family-friendly event this Father’s Day weekend!! ECEC’s butterfly gardens and native plant park are the backdrops for this annual celebration. There’s something for everyone at our Garden & Art Festival.

The festivities start with Hatha Yoga at 8:30 and the scenic 5K Butterfly Run / Walk along the river from 9 to 11 am. Dress up like a butterfly and enter the costume contest by 11:30 pm, you do not have to run to enter the costume contest, but running in costume is encouraged. Prizes will be awarded for the best costumes in the three runner categories and for the cutest pet.

Enjoy live music all day, from flutes to banjos, shop home, art, eco-friendly & garden artisans, and free kids activities from 10 am – 4 pm. This year features special entertainment just for kids – a special reading time with Disney’s Princess Rapunzel @ 10:15 and at 12 pm join Decor’mm and Disney’s Princess Rapunzel for a sing-along and dance lessons.

All event proceeds support ECEC’s programs.

We hope you’ll join us!

Emerging Butterflies - Libby Aug 2010 002

Here’s what happened in 2022–check back later for 2023 updates!

Kids 18 and under can enjoy a free lunch from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at the Tomaselli’s onsite Pizza Wagon or Hotdogs in the Outpost Cafe! Adults can also purchase a meal at the event to support the event lunch fundraiser. The Outpost Cafe will be open from 9 am – 5 pm for baked goods, coffee drinks, and smoothies.

We’re really pleased to be part of the Department of Education’s Summer Food Service Program this year to provide nutrition to young people while school is out. The Blooms and Butterflies festival is our kick-off for the program in Elkton, and we’ll keep it going throughout the summer in our student-run cafe. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Take a tour of historic Fort Umpqua and learn about the life cycle of native butterflies in the ECEC flight room. Find garden-themed presents in our Gift Shop and plants for your own backyard habitat in our Native Plant Nursery. Check out the Monarch Waystation plant display and enter to win a waystation planting package estimated at $100 value!

Thank you to event sponsors and volunteers for making the Festival & Butterfly Run event fun for the whole family!

2022 Program – check back later for 2023 plans

10 am – 4 pm

Shop Home, Art, Eco-Friendly & Garden Artisans, and community booths
Have fun reading, singing, dancing, and photos with Disney’s Princess Rapunzel
Fort Art Fun with Trudy Wilkinson @ Fort Umpqua
Bob’s Looney Balloons is loonier than ever and Douglas County Bees are buzzing
Seed planting station for attracting monarch butterflies and swallowtail butterflies with Cheryl from Natural Grocers
Visit the Umpqua Watershed “Youth on Air” booth to record your creative writing, singing, playing an instrument, storytelling, or sharing information – the theme is “Making Positive Change”

Activity Schedule

8:30 – 9:30 – Hatha Yoga with Andrea in the Carol Beckley Native Plant Park next to the Amphitheater

9 – 11 – The 15th Annual Elkton Walk/Run 5K begins and the ¼ mi is open in the Carol Beckley Native Plant Park

10:15 – 11 Reading in the Garden with Disney’s Princess Rapunzel

10 – 11:30 The Flutestock Players in the Garden

10:30 – 11 Butterfly Talk with ECEC’s Butterfly Steward Barb Slott

11:30 – 1:30 Kids Eat Free (pizza or hotdog with sides and milk)

11:30 – 12 Costume Contest and Race Awards

12 – 2 Sing-along and Dance with Decor’mm and Disney’s Princess Rapunzel

2-4 Sunny Sky Boys

2-3 Chair Yoga w/ Andrea in the Ellie Smartt Community Library

3:30 Monarch Waystation Plant Display Raffle Drawing (must be present to win)

Lunch Fundraiser – Kids Eat Free 11:30-1:30 both locations on site

Tomaselli’s Pastry Mill & Cafe’s Pizza Wagon Oven serves pizza by the slice or whole pie, choose your topping and sides

Outpost Cafe – Hotdog Bar (veggie Option), sandwiches, coffee drinks, smoothies, pastries, and more

Live Music Lineup

Flutestock Players in the Garden 10 – 11:30 am presenting music from various genres, mostly improvisations, all played on Native American-style flutes. “We look forward to returning to ECEC next year for Flutestock 2022, which will be July 15-17, 2022” – The Flutestock Organizers.

Sing-along with Decor’mm! at the Amphitheater 12 – 2 pm – Learn songs and dances of the “Echoes of the Umpqua” history pageant. Interactive workshop for children and the young-at-heart. Repertoire will feature songs of mountain men and settlers, boatmen and kings, as well as singing games, square dancing, and the Virginia Reel!

Sunny Sky Boys duo will be jammin’ a lively variety of western swing, folk, and bluegrass music on the Green House Patio Stage 2 – 4 pm

ECEC is open 9 – 5 and you can also enjoy these activities at the Blooms & Butterfly Festival

The Ervin Groppenbecher Exhibit (1913 – 2001) One Artist, Many Styles

Butterfly Flight Room Tours

Fort Umpqua Tours

ECEC Gift Shop with Unique & Local gifts

Outpost Cafe