Mariposa Butterfly Festival

05/10/2026

Day 5 of Gratitude Week

Today we would like to celebrate the incredible musicians, performers, sound engineers, artists, and cultural experiences that helped fill the Mariposa Butterfly Festival with music, energy, creativity, and joy throughout the weekend.

Music has a way of bringing people together unlike anything else. It creates atmosphere, connection, celebration, and memories that stay with families long after an event is over.

The woman responsible for all of the music at Mariposa Butterfly Festival never needs introduction, but we are going to share our heartfelt thank you to Gail Dreifus for helping bring music, singalongs, and community spirit to the festival weekend year after year. Your passion and dedication to creating joyful experiences for families shines through in every performance.

A very special thank you to Sharon Hoffman for bringing International Jazz Day to the festival this year. WOW! What an incredible addition to the weekend. Thank you for helping create such a beautiful cultural experience for our community and visitors alike. Watching families gather together to enjoy live jazz music in Mariposa was truly something special.

Thank you to the amazing musicians and performers who generously shared their gifts and talents throughout the weekend. Your performances created moments of joy, dancing, laughter, celebration, and connection for thousands of attendees.

Thank you as well to all of the bands, entertainers, stage crews, and performers who gave their time, talent, and energy to helping create such a vibrant atmosphere throughout the grounds.

A very special thank you to David Budries for sound engineering multiple performance areas throughout the festival and delivering a quality of sound that events only dream of. Coordinating sound across multiple stages and entertainment spaces is an enormous undertaking, and your professionalism and expertise elevated the entire experience for performers and attendees alike.

Events like this are made magical by the artists, musicians, technicians, and creatives who pour themselves into creating moments people will remember for years to come.

Thank you for sharing your gifts with our community.

05/09/2026

https://www.tiktok.com//video/7636141070341967118?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7633421585663182367

Scott Patrick was ROCKING!!!! Country style...

156 likes, 5 comments. “Mariposa, CA!! Thanks for having me this weekend at the Mariposa Butterfly Festival! There’s always something so special about hometown shows ❤️🦋 •”

05/09/2026

Day 4 of Gratitude Week

Today we would like to celebrate the magic, imagination, music, laughter, and children’s programming that helped make the Mariposa Butterfly Festival such a joyful experience for families this year.

One of the greatest gifts of community events is watching children laugh, sing, dance, create memories, and experience wonder together — and so many incredible people helped create those moments throughout the festival weekend.

A heartfelt thank you to Gail Dreifus for the incredible music, entertainment coordination, singalongs, and joyful energy she brings to this festival year after year. Gail’s passion for music and community creates moments that bring generations together through laughter, dancing, and song.

Thank you to Claire & Family for filling Monarch Grove with music, smiles, storytelling, and unforgettable family entertainment throughout the weekend. The joy you bring to children and families is truly something special.

Thank you to Julie the Balloon Twister for the endless smiles, colorful creations, and magical moments shared with children throughout the festival. Watching children light up while carrying their balloon creations around the grounds was one of the many small moments that made the weekend memorable.

Thank you Dizzy Chickens for the fun train rides and Dabbles for cooling our families with the water slide bounce house! We loved it!

Thank you to all of the children’s activity volunteers, storytellers, performers, and helpers who spent countless hours creating hands-on experiences where children could simply be kids.

A special thank you to Kimberly Vaughan for bringing Mari the Monarch to life through Storytime experiences that introduced children to butterflies, literacy, imagination, and stewardship. Through Monarch Grove, children were invited into a world of storytelling, nature, creativity, and wonder.

Thank you once again to Southland Industries and an anonymous donor whose generosity ensured that nearly 400 books were distributed to children in our community free of charge. Putting books directly into the hands of children is something we are incredibly proud of.

Thank you to 4-H for bringing animals and educational experiences to the festival and helping children connect with agriculture, rural life, and hands-on learning in such a meaningful way.

Community events are not built by stages and tents alone.

They are built by people willing to create joy, inspire imagination, and make children feel welcome.

And for that, we are incredibly grateful. Please share photos of the kids' experiences. There is so much for kids to do and see!

05/08/2026

Community ideas please....

We are going to decorate a golf cart for the 250th Birthday of America celebration in town. Since we are the Butterfly Festival.... I am thinking butterfly themed, but I am incredibly patriotic, as is our team of volunteers. Red, white and blue butterfly? Do you have any ideas of what we could do? There is a contest for decorating the carts and of course we want to win :-) All ideas are welcome. Please share photos of your ideas.

05/08/2026

Today we would like to recognize the incredible public safety teams, emergency responders, volunteers, and community agencies who helped ensure that the Mariposa Butterfly Festival remained a safe, welcoming, family-friendly experience for more than 10,000 attendees.

Large events require extensive planning, coordination, communication, and preparation behind the scenes long before families ever walk through the gates. We are deeply grateful to the people and agencies who worked together to help create a safe environment where children could laugh, play, explore, and build memories with their families.

A very special thank you to SCOPE for serving as a visible and welcoming presence throughout the festival weekend. As volunteers supporting our Sheriff’s Department, your team helped provide security, guidance, support, and peace of mind at entrances and throughout the grounds. Your professionalism, kindness, and commitment to serving this community made a tremendous difference throughout the event.

Thank you to the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office for your support, coordination, and continued partnership in helping ensure the safety of attendees, vendors, volunteers, and performers throughout the weekend.

Thank you to CAL FIRE and Mariposa County Fire Department for coming out to meet and greet families while helping provide emergency preparedness and support throughout the event grounds. Seeing children interact with firefighters and first responders creates meaningful moments and positive community connections that last far beyond the festival weekend.

Thank you to the Sheriff’s Posse for your presence, support, and volunteerism throughout the event.

Thank you to our Mariposa County Environmental Health team for helping guide food safety, vendor compliance, and operational coordination throughout the planning process and festival weekend. Your work behind the scenes is incredibly important and greatly appreciated.

Events of this size require countless meetings, permits, inspections, safety plans, and coordination efforts that most attendees never see. We are grateful for every agency, volunteer, and public servant who helped ensure our community could gather together safely and successfully.

Community events do not happen without partnership.

And we are incredibly thankful for yours. Share photos you took at Butterfly Festival with these wonderful public safety teams, emergency responders, volunteers, and/or community agencies.

Thank you Megan Mickel for these wonderful photos!

05/08/2026

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT:
And we're off...! So.... Our gratitude week will continue (because there are so many reasons to express gratitude in this great community for Butterfly Festival). While we are expressing gratitude we also want to share some exciting news! ARE YOU READY?? ARE YOU SITTING DOWN??

We are going to celebrate with our entire community on July 4th, 2026 in the heart of downtown! The 250th Birthday of America is upon us and there is just no better place to celebrate in California than in the Mother of Counties where it all began. In partnership with our beloved Mariposa County, Mariposa Chamber of Commerce, and Mariposa Museum & History Center we are going to blow out the candles on this patriotic cake with a colossal parade, 5 stages of live entertainment, artisans, demonstrations, and a TWO HUNDRED DRONE show!

I've never seen a 200 drone show... I imagine it will be quite spectacular. The County is roping off the highway, Chamber of Commerce is throwing a parade like no other and it is time for us to CEL - E - BRATE!!!

Event details
https://www.mariposacounty.gov/3030/250th-Birthday-of-the-United-States

Want to be a vendor?
https://www.mariposacounty.gov/3033/Become-a-Vendor

Want to join the parade?
https://www.mariposacounty.gov/3034/Parade-Entry

Sponsorship opportunities for this celebration are being welcomed:
https://www.mariposacounty.gov/3032/Become-a-Donor

Links will be added to the Mariposa Butterfly Festival website shortly. We've been a bit pre-occupied and appreciate everyone's patience while we catch up to our community partners.

This is going to be so much fun folks! If you see them walking around town, please thank Supervisors Jenni Kiser Mariposa County District 4 Supervisor, Richard Westfall, and Danette Toso, Mariposa County District 3 Supervisor. These wonderful people have brought an army of support to the table and we are all planning a great celebration. Please join us. It is going to be wonderful to gather once again!

05/07/2026

A special thank you to Recology for helping keep the Mariposa Butterfly Festival clean throughout a very busy festival weekend.

Welcoming more than 10,000 attendees creates an enormous amount of behind-the-scenes work that most people never see — including hauling away mountains of trash, supporting cleanup operations, and helping our grounds remain safe and welcoming for families.

We are incredibly grateful for your partnership, equipment, support, and commitment to our community.

Community events of this size truly take all of us working together, and we appreciate you very much.

05/07/2026

Hi everyone! Shew! It has been a few days of packing up the Butterfly Festival materials and all of the fun for safe-keeping for next year. While the memories are fresh in your mind, will you leave a review for us on our Google page?

Post a review to our profile on Google

05/07/2026

Today we would like to recognize the operations teams, fairgrounds staff, parking volunteers, cleanup crews, and behind-the-scenes helpers who worked tirelessly to keep the Mariposa Butterfly Festival safe, welcoming, organized, and running smoothly for more than 10,000 attendees.

Most people never see the countless hours and physical labor required to produce an event of this size — but this festival simply would not happen without the people willing to show up early, stay late, solve problems, and work hard for our community.

A heartfelt thank you to Rotary International and our local Rotary volunteers for managing parking throughout the weekend. Coordinating more than 500 parking spaces, vendor traffic, accessibility needs, and guest arrivals is an enormous responsibility, and your team handled it with kindness, professionalism, and welcoming smiles. We deeply appreciate that the funds raised through parking go right back into supporting Rotary driven scholarships in our community, and our Butterfly Education Program.

Thank you to the hardworking team at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds for helping create such a beautiful and welcoming environment for families and visitors. Every event hosted at the fairgrounds reflects on our community, and your team takes that responsibility seriously.

A special thank you to Ben, Willie, Debbie, Sharon, Leslie, and Tina for your support, flexibility, dedication, and countless hours of work leading up to and throughout the festival weekend. The grounds looked amazing, and we are incredibly grateful for your partnership.

Thank you to Bobby Spiers, Charlene, Chris, and Katie for taking on the huge responsibility of helping keep the event clean, stocked, and comfortable for attendees throughout the weekend. From trash pickup to restroom maintenance and supply runs, your efforts mattered more than most people will ever realize.

This year, instead of hiring an out-of-area janitorial company, the festival intentionally chose to invest directly back into our local community. We purchased a used golf cart to support cleanup and operations throughout the grounds, and when the golf cart broke down during the event, this dedicated crew simply kept going on foot until repairs were completed onsite so they could continue serving attendees.

That kind of determination and commitment to community deserves recognition.

Thank you to the ticket takers and entrance volunteers who greeted attendees with friendly smiles while helping keep lines moving safely and efficiently throughout the weekend. Jackie, Penelope, Shula, Frank, Gene, and Hudson — thank you for your patience, kindness, and hard work.

We would also like to recognize the incredible youth volunteers who helped support the box offices, ticket scanning, setup, teardown, and guest experience throughout the festival. Thank you Kira, Merrick, Kayley, Mary, and Jillian for stepping up to serve your community. Seeing young people volunteer their time and energy to support local events gives us so much hope for the future of Mariposa.

This festival is built by people willing to work hard for something bigger than themselves.

And for that, we are deeply grateful. Please share photos of people hard at work at this event that you know!

05/06/2026

Day 1 of Gratitude Week

Today we would like to honor the heart of the Mariposa Butterfly Festival — our Butterfly Education Program and Habitat Row.

Long before the gates open, butterflies are already making their way into classrooms throughout our community thanks to an incredible team of volunteers, educators, sponsors, and supporters who believe children should experience the wonder of nature up close.

A very special thank you to Pamela Gross, Kimberly Vaughan, Wolf Faulkins, Sarah Garcia, and Megan Mickel for helping distribute caterpillars and educational materials to schools, preschools, daycares, homeschool families, and charter schools throughout the county. Because of your dedication, children throughout our region were able to experience the miracle of the butterfly lifecycle firsthand.

Thank you to Pam Gross for leading our Mariposa Butterfly Education Program and Habitat Row with extraordinary passion and dedication. Pam’s garage transformed into a butterfly nursery this season, where countless butterflies eclosed and prepared to make their way into classrooms and eventually into the hands of excited children at the festival. Her commitment to educating young people about butterflies, pollinators, milkweed, and habitat stewardship has inspired so many families in our community.

Thank you to Anne Dolchanczyk and Georgia Gallagher for leading butterfly distribution to children throughout the festival weekend. Watching the joy and excitement on the faces of children receiving butterflies was truly magical.

Thank you to all of the teachers, schools, administrators, homeschool families, and educational partners who participated in the 2026 Butterfly Education Program. Because of your support, children throughout our region had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the lifecycle of butterflies and the importance of protecting habitat for future generations.

Thank you to Southland Industries and an anonymous donor whose generosity ensured that nearly 400 books were distributed to children in our community at no cost. Literacy, imagination, and nature came together beautifully in Monarch Grove this year.

Thank you to Mariposa Feed & Supply for your continued generosity and support of Habitat Row and our educational mission. Wondering where the 40’ caterpillar came from? Community support like yours helps bring these experiences to life.

Habitat Row has always been about more than butterflies. It is about education, conservation, curiosity, agriculture, gardening, pollinators, and helping children understand their connection to the natural world around them.

There were thousands of smiles this weekend, and so many of them began with the work of this incredible team.

Thank you for helping us inspire the next generation of Butterfly Guardians. 🦋

Please share your butterfly photos here! Each day we will say thank you and each day we will invite you to share photos and videos of yoru experience. THANK YOU for making this such a wonderful event!