Thursday, a new community event called the Mariposa Festival is honoring the migration of the Western Monarch Butterfly to the Central Coast.
The festival is a collaboration between the Central Coast State Parks Association and the Latino Outreach Council to honor the Latino culture’s connection to the declining species.
In Spanish, mariposa means butterfly. Pre-hispanic folklore says butterflies carry the souls of ancestors visiting from the afterlife, according to the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Every late-October the Western Monarch Butterflies make their way south from the Rockies to the Central Coast, and as far south as Baja, California — just in time for Dia De Los Muertos.
Kristin Howland, the Executive Director of the Central Coast State Parks Association said the Monarch butterfly is a Mexican symbol of dignity and resilience.
“During this holiday families set up ofrendas and often use Monarch themed ideas. The monarch butterfly is deeply connected to the Hispanic folklore and culture,” Howland said.
The Mariposa Festival also pays respect to the Monarch’s declining population.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Monarch population has declined by over 99% since 1980. Howland said they are threatened by pesticides that kill off the milkweed plants they need to survive.
“That's what they depend on to lay their eggs. The caterpillars eat those and that's how they develop the beautiful colors and toxins within them that keep them from being primarily preyed upon,” Howland said.
Over 20 local artisan and educational booths are included at the Mariposa Festival, which will take place in downtown San Luis Obispo during tomorrow’s Farmer’s Market on Broad Street, between Higuera and Monterey.
