Over the course of two days, 275 tagged Monarch butterflies fluttered their orange wings and were released into the sky to begin their migration to Central Mexico.
Their release was one of the main events at this weekend's ButterflyFest at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
About 3,000 people attended Saturday. Museum staff did not have an estimate yet for Sunday's attendance.
Thomas C. Emmel, the director of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, said the butterflies would be tracked during the museum's annual trip to Mexico.
"It's incredible to see," Emmel said. "It's like being in a cathedral, but instead of stones and glass, it's butterflies."
Kendra Lanza-Kaduce, the museum's public programs coordinator, said it received an $8,000 grant to put on the two-day event.
Volunteer Naomi Ware, who was one of 130 people who helped with the event, asked children questions about butterflies and rewarded prizes to those who answered correctly.
Children created their own construction- paper-butterfly wings and pipe-cleaner antennas to wear while learning facts about butterflies.
About 20 youngsters participated in a pollination parade, where they danced around the museum with their wings flapping.
There was also a mural on the wall for families to write or draw their favorite part of ButterflyFest.
Organizers set up booths that displayed different types of moths and butterflies in glass boxes in the Lepidoptera department. The horticulture department sold plants that can be used to create butterfly gardens.
Lectures, tours and games, such as butterfly bingo, were also available to those who attended the event.
