Flying Colors Butterfly Festival

Butterfly Releases

Witness the thrill of a live butterfly release including swallowtail butterflies! Butterfly releases occur at 11 AM and 1:30 PM on Saturday and at 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM on Sunday.

Butterfly Crafts and Face Painting

We have crafts for everyone! Kids can make butterfly inspired sun catchers, butterfly antennae, silly straws, and bouncy caterpillars. Come visit us in Kingfisher Kids can get their faces painted with beautiful butterflies and creepy caterpillars!

Butterfly Sidewalk Art & Fairy House Construction

Butterflies provide the perfect inspiration for our on-going art project.  Create a "butterfly path" from the Ben Brady Lakeside Pavilion all the way to the "fairy village!"

Fairies are among us. Stop by the free play area and build a fairy house or gnome home during the Butterfly Festival. Fairy houses and gnome homes are made from nature objects for real and imaginary creatures. Nature materials provided; bring your imagination. One house per family please.

Entertainment for the Entire Family

Saturday and Sunday will bring out our friends from Atlanta Dance Central as they showcase some of their up and coming dancers!

On Saturday, Piccadilly Puppets will have you laughing and learning as they present Butterfly Ballad at 11:30am and 2:00pm.

Captain George will have us dancing and singing along to old favorites on Sunday with some help from YOU at 2:15pm and 4:00pm!

Exhibitors and Vendors

We will have groups with us that will help you learn about the importance of pollinators in our environment.  We will also have some environmentally friendly vendors on hand to help you green your life!

• Metro Atlanta Beekeepers
• The Hat's Meow
• Kathy Walton Art
• The American Chestnut Foundation – Georgia Chapter
• Kool Towels
• Mystery Gems
• Mega Moo Vitamin Milk
• Latin Art Jewelry
• The Chic Peach
• UGA Museum of Natural History
• Georgia Nature Photography Association
• BeDazzleDo
• Kites in Flight
  

Girl Scout Butterfly Badge

Junior Girl Scouts can work on the requirements for the Butterfly Badge on their own with self-guided activities on Saturday OR come on Sunday and complete the requirements through an interactive program with Cadette Scout Mary Ann H. from Troop 24324 as part of her Silver Award!   If you would like to sign-up for the Sunday program please contact scouts@chattnaturecenter.org.  The program is included with admission to the festival!

Plant Sale

Find the perfect host plants and nectar plants to take home to your garden to attract butterflies to your backyard! CNC Horticulture volunteers will be on-hand at the plant sale and in the butterfly garden to answer your questions about how to attract butterflies and other pollinators to your yard!

New! Calling All Citizen Scientists

Did you find out about the six common butterflies of Metro Atlanta from the Summer Kingfisher newsletter?  Well now is your chance to share what is in YOUR backyard or local park!  Download the Butterfly Observation Form and bring to the Nature Exchange at CNC during the Flying Colors Butterfly Festival to receive a surprise from the Nature Exchange!  Your observation sheet earns you a nature goodie bag which could have anything from fossils and unusual stones to rare shells and preserved insects.  Every bag is different so you will sure to be surprised.   

NEW Calling All Nature Photographers

We want to show off your butterfly pictures here at CNC.  Snap a picture of one of the 6 common butterflies in Metro Atlanta in their adult or larvae form by June 30th.  Send the picture into marketing@chattnaturecenter.org and you will be entered into a chance to win tickets to the Flying Colors Butterfly Festival for your entire family!  All photos will be on display in the Cowie Weiss Theater during the festival! Download a submission form to send in with your photo here

Butterfly and Caterpillar Costume Parade

Come with your very best butterfly wings or your best caterpillar colors on and join us for our butterfly parade at the end of festival each day with grand marshal Ms. Chrysalis! Butterfly and Caterpillar Costume parade will start at 2:45pm on Saturday and 4:45pm on Sunday

Stay Cool in our Discovery Center!

Head into our Discovery Center and explore the Nature Exchange (because of the busy nature of the festival, we won't be allowing trades to come in but if you have existing points to trade with, our Nature Exchange naturalists can help!) 

• Take a turn in our Butterfly and Insect Changing room to change from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly.
• Be a Creative Caterpillar as you create your own artwork while observing live caterpillars! 
• Enter a contest to win your very own preserved butterfly!
• Make your own butterfly to flutter around your home
• Visit our insect collection and learn fun insect facts!

Food for the Family

Make the festival an all day event!  We will be selling a variety of food to keep you going!  Cool off with Italian Ices from Brusters! Choose your favorite flavor to enjoy! A portion of the proceeds to benefit CNC! We will be selling popsicles, drinks, and snacks around the property.
For lunch – try some food from Barberitos! Enjoy soft tacos (vegetarian option available), chips, and salsa! A big thanks to Barberitos for providing lunches for all of our volunteers. We will also have Jalapeño Corndogs back this year providing tasty lunch food and snack treats (vegetarian options available.) Need some snacks? We will have kettle corn available as well as drinks throughout the property to keep you full and hydrated! Cash only for food concessions (we do not have an ATM on-site.

For more information on the festival contact Rebecca at 770-992-2055 ext. 236 or Email

Last Minute Details

• Please Carpool!  There is limited parking in the CNC parking lot.  There will also be free shuttle bus service available from St. Francis School near the corner of Willeo/Azalea and Highway 120.
• Please note that there is not an ATM on site.  Several areas, including food, are cash-only.
• Please note that pets are not allowed on the CNC grounds.

Exhibitor, Vendor, Sponsor, and Press Information

• Interested in participating as an exhibitor or vendor? Download an Application HERE
• Interested in helping make this festival a success? Download a Sponsor Package HERE
• Help us promote the festival by sharing this flyer