Press & Media

BELMONT, N.H. — The 14th annual NH Monarch Festival was held in Belmont Village, New Hampshire, on Saturday, August 22, 2026. Nearly 300 people — including attendees, vendors, and volunteers — came together to celebrate the monarch butterfly. Over twenty vendors showcased their artwork. This family-friendly event offered new kids’ games and crafts, face painting, a robot butterfly, and a new photo backdrop — all while celebrating and educating the public about the monarch butterfly, the importance of milkweed, and conservation efforts.

A total of seven butterflies were released at the Festival — two of them with the newest radio tagging technology: the CTT BlūMorpho radio tag. Cellular Tracking Technologies (CTT), a company specializing in GPS and cellular tracking products for scientific research, developed the new BlūMorpho tags and helped launch the Project Monarch Collaboration last year. Weighing less than a single grain of rice, these new BlūMorpho tags are solar powered, have Bluetooth capabilities, and are giving scientists the opportunity to see tracking data in real time.

A couple of days prior to the Festival, event coordinator and monarch citizen scientist Amira Provost partnered with biologist Lindsay Herlihy from New Hampshire Audubon to beta test the first-ever BlūMorpho tag in the state. Working carefully with a male monarch, they successfully adhered the device to the butterfly and released it later that afternoon.

“This is absolutely exciting!” says Provost. “These BlūMorpho tags will help scientists better understand where monarchs travel and migrate to. And the best part? The data can be viewed in real time through the Project Monarch app.”

Together, Herlihy and Provost successfully released three nanotagged monarchs. Including the pre-festival beta test, three monarchs now carry an NHMF nanotag. “NHMF-BetaTest” stayed local in Belmont for a couple of days before traveling to Vermont. “NHMF-Mike,” named in honor of Provost’s father-in-law who passed away in July, has remained in the Belmont area. “NHMF-SarahJ,” named by one of the Festival’s generous sponsors, traveled north to Ashland before heading southwest toward Danbury.

Anyone wanting to learn more about the BlūMorpho radio tags or track the three above-mentioned butterflies can download the Project Monarch app or visit nhmonarchfestival.com/project-monarch.html for more information, updates, and instructions on how to use the app.