Posted on: Apr 5, 2018 1:00:00 PM
In: Cuyamaca, District
Campus Life
Contact: Anne Krueger anne.krueger@gcccd.edu
Up to 5,000 visitors will converge on the Cuyamaca College campus when the annual Spring Garden and Butterfly Festival returns for its 25th year on Saturday, April 28, as the college, The Water Conservation Garden and the Heritage of the Americas Museum present an array of family-friendly events featuring plant sales, craft vendors, wine tasting and more.
The Water Conservation Garden and the Heritage of the Americas Museum are housed at Cuyamaca College, and all three have scheduled a bevy of activities. Cuyamaca College’s award-winning Ornamental Horticulture Department is hosting its biggest plant sale of the year, with proceeds supplementing the program’s operations. The Water Conservation Garden will be the site of butterfly releases, landscape consultations, a children’s story time with Ms. Metamorphosis, and a pollinator party with Ms. Smarty-Plants. The Heritage of the Americas Museum is presenting a Kumeyaay fire-making and artifacts demonstration, along with docent-led tours.
“The Spring Garden and Butterfly Festival is a great way for the college, the Water Conservation Garden, and the Heritage of the Americas Museum to highlight the innovative programs we offer to the community,” said Cuyamaca College President Julianna Barnes. “It’s also an awesome way to spend a Saturday.”
More than 80 vendors, craftspeople and artisans will be on hand at Cuyamaca College’s Grand Lawn and in the Garden. The Grand Lawn will also house information booths and presentations from nearly two dozen Cuyamaca College academic and student programs. The Child Development Department, for example, is organizing activities for small children. Graphic design professors will discuss pathways to rewarding careers. And computer information systems instructors will detail how Cuyamaca College is putting people to work in high-demand fields such as cyber security.
The popular event, one of the largest in San Diego’s East County, has its roots in the Spring Garden Festival launched 25 years ago by the Ornamental Horticulture program at Cuyamaca College. In 2017, it combined forces with the annual Butterfly Festival, which took flight after the Water Conservation Garden opened its Butterfly Pavilion in 2014.
Among the many highlights:
At Cuyamaca College:
At the Water Conservation Garden:
At the Heritage of the Americas Museum:
The Cuyamaca College nursery at the 2017 Spring Garden and Butterfly Festival