Florida Butterfly Festival photo contest entries due Sept. 15

May 19, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The 2006 Florida Butterfly Festival photography contest rules are now available online. The entry fee is $10 per photo, with cash prizes awarded to the top five winners.

Other winning entries and honorable mentions will be included in a 2008 calendar and displayed at the Florida Museum of Natural History during the 2006 festival Oct. 14-15. Entry deadline is Friday, Sept. 15. Complete rules and an entry form are available at www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflyfest/photo_contest.htm

The inaugural Florida Butterfly Festival will be held at the University of Florida Cultural Plaza and other area locations, including Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Morningside Nature Center, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo and the Thomas Center. The Florida Museum is planning the festival with several community partners, including the Arts Association of Alachua County, Alachua County Visitors and Convention Bureau, City of Gainesville Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art.

The festival web site also includes an event schedule and information about travel, seminars, field trips, children’s activities and other events. Vendor and sponsor information will be added as it becomes available.

Festival visitors also may tour the Florida Museum’s Butterfly Rainforest exhibit and new butterfly wildflower demonstration garden, which the museum plans to open this year.

For more information on the festival, call the Florida Museum, (352) 846-2000, ext. 200, or visit www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflyfest/.