Despite a gloomy start to the day, the sky cleared up in time for around 2,600 butterflies to be released at Oak Grove’s annual Butterfly Festival on Saturday.
The festival took over the Oak Grove War Memorial Walking Trail Park for its 17th year and attracted crowds of butterfly lovers. At the first festival in 2008, around 300 butterflies were released and since then the festival has greatly grown.
The festival typically only includes Monarch Butterflies, but because not all of them were delivered, Oak Grove Tourism Commission Executive Director Traci Cunningham says they added Painted Lady and Red Emerald Butterflies to Saturday’s release.
Looking toward the future, Cunningham says they plan to continue releasing multiple butterfly species.
Cunningham says the weather in the morning may have deterred some people from coming, but once the sky cleared and it was time to release the butterflies, the festival was packed.
When establishing the festival, Cunningham says she did not expect it to grow so big, but is glad it did and plans to further expand it.
The festival attracts folks from across the region. Sharon Congrove and her husband traveled from their home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to Clarksville to visit their daughter, and while they were in the area, they decided to check out the festival. Sharon Congrove says it was their first time attending a butterfly release and called it a beautiful event.
Next year, the tourism commission is set to release around 2,800 butterflies.
