SANDPOINT — Area residents will have a chance to witness the majesty of monarch butterflies up close and in person at a new festival set for later this month. 

The Monarch and Friends Festival will be held Saturday, Aug. 29, from 12-4 p.m. at Matchwood Brewing, where attendees can watch a live monarch butterfly release and learn about pollinators through educational hands-on activities. 

The festival serves to celebrate Sandpoint becoming a Monarch City USA community by bringing residents together to learn about the importance of monarch butterflies and other vital pollinators. 

Over 24 local environmental groups will have booths set up in the parking lots of Evans Brothers and Matchwood Brewing to educate the public about what their organizations do to help local pollinators and the environment. 

Monarch City USA is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to protecting the monarch butterfly by helping in nationwide efforts to restore its native habitat. 

WingsRising, a nonprofit organization dedicated toward monarch butterfly preservation, will bring live monarch butterflies and caterpillars to the festival in a flight house, allowing people to interact with the insects. 

They will also attach bluetooth solar trackers to the thorax of some butterflies so the public can track their progress through the Project Monarch App. 

Native milkweed plants are vanishing in critical locations across America, and Monarch butterfly observations have seen a steep decline since the 1980s, according to the organization's website. 

As the only plant that female Monarchs lay their eggs on and as the monarch caterpillar's only food source, the corporation seeks to help America’s municipalities with the monarch butterfly’s recovery by planting milkweed and nectar plants within their boundaries. 

"In this way, your city or town can act as a stepping stone or stopover during the monarch’s migration journey," the corporation's website says. 

"As we believe the children will own our future, there will be lots of fun, engaging activities for the kids of all ages to learn a myriad of facts and actions they can take," said event organizers. "We will have face painting, a plethora of environmentally friendly crafts, a monarch photo booth and more." 

The festival will also host a Junior Ambassador Scavenger Hunt, where children will be encouraged to attend booths to find answers to environmentally themed questions.  

"When they have found the answers to all their questions, they will be given a decomposable planting pot with a milkweed start and certificate noting they're a Junior Monarch Ambassador," said event organizers. 

Any money made through coffee, beer and raffle tickets will go toward a Monarch and Friends Organic Native Pollinator Garden complete with milkweed and signage at Matchwood Brewing. The size and scope of the garden are dependent on the donations received.

    Community members celebrate Dover becoming a Monarch City USA at last year's Dover Monarch Festival.