Amid hazardous air quality Thursday, hundreds of community members, parents and their children gathered for the annual Insect Fest at Cummings Square in River Forest.
Attendees convened to hunt bugs, interact with tiny creatures at an insect petting zoo, learn about the roles bugs play in the ecosystem, and have fun, too, with face painting and other activities.
The annual celebration of insects has been offered for about a decade, said Justin Mercer, program coordinator for the Forest Preserves of Cook County- Central Region. Thursday’s festival marked his eighth time running it.
“It’s a great way to get people involved, engaged and informed about some of the work that happens in the forest preserves and some of the things that call the forest preserves home,” Mercer said.
Among the cuddly petting zoo creatures available to touch and hold were a tarantula and millipedes.
While riding around the western suburbs area last week, Nathan Falstad noticed an advertisement for the fest and decided he should go with his 3-year-old son Abraham.
“It’s good to see these activities for him,” Falstad said.
Activities at Insect Fest included a bug-related storytime hosted by the Brookfield Public Library, African Drumming with Victoria Boateng, an insect puppet performance by The Puppet Zoo and other activities.
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“Working with people that work directly in this community and surrounding communities makes the most sense,” Mercer said. “There’s a lot of planning, a lot of pre-planning, but hopefully the end result is that we get a lot of folks out and they enjoy themselves.”
Among the helpers at the event was Maria Vujic, a naturalist at the Trailside Museum of Natural History in River Forest. She has been working Insect Fests since 2019.
“I think it’s very important to learn from a young age to appreciate nature, to realize that nature is around us, even though we are in a heavily urban or suburban area,” Vujic said. “Insects are a very crucial part of the ecosystem, so it’s nice to learn about them, too.”
Amanda Nieves, an outreach program coordinator with the Cook County Forest Preserves, also was on hand to help out. She said the festival provides a way for people to learn more about the resources that are around them and understand how the forest preserves work. It also helps that it’s easy for many people to get to, she said.
“I think an event like this, in a space like this, being so close to the Green Line of public transportation, it helps make nature accessible for people,” Nieves said. “It helps people feel like they have a space where they can go and talk to people who may be able to answer some questions about bugs, nature or whatever in general. It’s a great place to connect.”
As air quality worsened as wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota settled over the region Thursday setting air pollution records in the Chicago area, officials decided to end this year’s Insect Fest an hour early.
But officials plan to return next year for another celebration of bugs on July 15, 2027.