By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The annual migration of millions of Monarch butterflies, one of the great spectacles of the natural world, was the focus of the city’s Monarch Butterfly Festival on Saturday.
Although most of the migrating Monarchs, which pass through
Val Verde County each October on their way to overwintering sites deep in Mexico, hasn’t made it to Del Rio quite yet, there was no shortage of the butterflies’ distinctive orange and black at the festival site, historic Brown Plaza.
The festival kicked off at 9 a.m. with a welcome from Peter Ojeda, the city’s communications director.
Ojeda thanked the city for serving as the main sponsor of the festival and recognized several city departments whose staff had set up informational booths around the Plaza, including the natural gas department, the transportation program and the Main Street Program. Ojeda also thanked the other event sponsors and organizations who set up booths and exhibits.
Just off the Plaza, artists and artisans set up booths to sell their creations.
Retired National Park Service ranger and educator Lisa Nielsen showed dozens of exquisite butterfly and wildflower photos in her “Wild About Nature” booth, showcasing not only Monarchs but many of the other colorful butterflies native to the area. She also provided festivalgoers with information on how to differentiate between Monarchs and several related look-alike species.
Del Rio artist Marcos Mares displayed gorgeous original mixed
media art, featuring Monarchs and other native creatures, as well as paintings of some of the area’s unique and beautiful plants. Mares also created a life-sized painting of Homero Gómez González, the Mexican activist who worked to preserve the Monarchs’ wintering grounds in Mexico, earning him the honorific “Guardian of the Monarchs.”
Other Del Rio artists displaying and selling their original work included José Gaitan of Gorditos Creations and Carolina Itzayana Lopez, the “Crochet Whisperer;” Amanda Curtis of Jefita’s Sewing, Pressed Petals, My’s Sunshine Art, Emmanuel SA Artist, Sueños de Papel y Hilo and Art by Laura Garcia.
Inside the Casa, photographs of past Monarch migration events taken by this writer and photographer were on display, and as a special bonus, photos by agricultural engineer and nature photographer Roberto Enriquez were exhibited in the city’s Parks and Recreation office.
Enriquez became involved with the Correo Real Mariposa Monarco, an environmental organization in Mexico dedicated to the conservation of the migrating Monarchs in Mexico using education, citizen science and conservation actions, leveraging communities, civil organizations, government agencies and private citizens.
Enriquez’s remarkable photographs were part of the festival thanks to Mexican Consul in Del Rio, Paloma Villaseñor Vargas.
A variety of other informational booths were set up around the Plaza, including by staff at the Val Verde County Library, the National Park Service, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Guatemalan Consulate and the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry.
Saturday’s event also featured a costume contest and a parade, led by Herlinda and Jose Guerra, who were named Mr. and Mrs. Monarch King and Queen from the city of Del Rio’s Nutrition Program.
Music was provided by DJ Yessy and later by Del Rio musician Angel Baena.
Lupita De La Paz, executive director of the Casa De La Cultura, and one of the organizers of the event, said she considered the festival a success and hopes that it will only getter bigger and better in the future.
“We think it’s really special that here in Del Rio we’re one of the last stops the Monarchs make before they cross the border going into Mexico. I think our goal is to just work with as many individuals and organizations that want to participate and get better every year. We’re hoping the Monarch festival will become a destination event for people who want to come to Del Rio to see the Monarchs and stay to savor everything else the city has to offer,” De La Paz said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
