Visit M&T Bank Butterflies LIVE!

April 16 – October 10, 2022, and is included with Garden admission

Richmond, VA

Richmond, Virginia’s Butterflies LIVE! allows you to get up-close and personal with hundreds of fluttering beauties. Did you know one of the best botanical gardens in the United States is located only about 2 hours way from the Washington, D.C. area?

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a straight drive down I-95 and only minutes off Exit 83B, just north of Richmond, Virginia.

It’s well worth the trip. You can easily spend an entire day at the Garden: interacting with tropical butterflies in the M&T Bank Butterflies LIVE! exhibit, exploring our environmental art exhibit, playing in the Children’s Garden and Klaus Family Tree House and enjoying 50 acres of blooms like you’ve never seen.  Enjoy great dining and shopping, too!

Butterflies LIVE! is an indoor exhibit filled with fun family activities for all ages. Hundreds of tropical butterflies feed, flutter and take flight all around you. Explore their origins, preferred habitats and lifecycles. Photos are permitted, but we ask those taking photos to be respectful of other guests. The exhibit is ever-changing, so every time you visit, you’re likely to see something new.

Butterflies LIVE!

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About Butterflies LIVE!

Included with Garden admission

Parking at the Garden is FREE. Due to an earlier closing time, please note the last group of visitors will be admitted to Butterflies LIVE! at 4 p.m.

Planning Your Visit

Our Garden is ideally situated, just off of I-95, we are conveniently located with easy access to other nearby Richmond attractions. If you have children be sure to read our Top 10 tips for visiting Butterflies LIVE! with kids.

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Butterfly Activities

Butterfly Releases:

Each day we release new butterflies into the exhibit. You may even see newly emerged butterflies take their first flight!

Watching gorgeous butterflies fluttering about is not the only attraction. Children can complete a Butterfly KidQuest for a prize, learn about pollinators in the Children’s Garden and do other butterfly activities.

Butterflies LIVE! Instagram Contest

Get social with the butterflies! Share your favorite photos from Butterflies LIVE!, tag them #Bflies and you’ll be entered to win a prize package.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates from the exhibit!

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Meet the Butterflies

We add new butterflies to our exhibit every day, so the butterflies flying in our exhibit on any given day changes.  But here are a few of our favorite fluttering beauties that you are likely to meet.

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More Butterfly Events

Butterflies LIVE! in the Conservatory is only part of the fun. We’ve planted nectar and host plants for butterflies all over the Garden! Plus, join us for these other butterfly activities in the Garden. Join us for fun family activities in the Children’s Garden where you can learn how to do the bee dance and participate in our Butterflies LIVE! KidQuest. Pick up a copy in the Conservatory, or download and print your own KidQuest PDF. 

Celebrate National Pollinators Week

A major initiative of the National Pollinator Partnership, National Pollinators Week recognizes the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health and agriculture in the United States. Join us for fun family activities in the Children’s Garden where you can learn how to do the bee dance and participate in the “Who’s Pollinating the Garden?” activity.

With our special "out-of-town" Membership, you save even more!

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M&T Bank Logo in green with taglineThank you to M&T Bank, title sponsor of Butterflies LIVE!