The Florida Museum of Natural History will celebrate National Pollinator Week with the return of “Pollinator Palooza” on Saturday, June 27, at First Magnitude Brewing Company.
The free event will run from noon to 4 p.m. at 1220 SE Veitch St. in Gainesville.
Presented in partnership with the Florida Wildflower Foundation and GROW HUB, the family-friendly event highlights the important role pollinators play in Florida’s ecosystems while offering visitors educational exhibits, live music, native plants and special conservation-themed craft beers.
Guests will receive one free native plant on a first-come, first-served basis. Available species include American beautyberry, firebush, purple passionflower, climbing hydrangea, Atlantic St. John’s wort, crimsoneyed rosemallow, button rattlesnakemaster and bushy seaside oxeye.
“We are again excited to pair our conservation beer releases and native plant giveaways with Pollinator Palooza. It’s a super fun and meaningful way to get people involved,” said Jaret Daniels, curator of lepidoptera at the Florida Museum’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, in a press release. “Overall enthusiasm for pollinators has continued to grow, and we have certainly seen that with this event; people want to help make a difference.”
This year’s event features two new conservation-themed beers. The Pollinator Palooza Hazy IPA highlights four butterfly species — the monarch, frosted elfin, arogos skipper and Schaus’ swallowtail — while the Blue Bee Watermelon Mint Gose honors the blue calamintha bee.
The 2026 event coincides with National Pollinator Week, observed June 22-28, and marks the 18th and 19th collaborative beer releases between the Florida Museum and First Magnitude Brewing over the past decade. This year’s beers also commemorate both the first species featured in the partnership in 2016, the Schaus’ swallowtail, and the arogos skipper, highlighted during the most recent Pollinator Palooza.
“The Schaus was the first butterfly highlighted with our beer initiative, is our only federally endangered U.S. swallowtail and has been a real conservation success story,” Daniels said. “Beyond that, I met my wife working on it, so that makes it even extra special for me.”
Visitors can also meet scientists from the McGuire Center, observe live caterpillars, learn about endangered pollinator conservation efforts and enjoy live music from singer-songwriter Thomas Allain.
Event merchandise, including T-shirts, tote bags and drinking glasses, will be available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds will support butterfly conservation and recovery efforts throughout Florida.
Pollinator Palooza is sponsored in part by the State of Florida Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.