What to Know
- Opens to the public March 18-22 (member preview: March 11-14); March 8 ticket on-sale
- "Up to 30 different species" will free-fly in the pavilion, which is open air (though netted, to house the butterflies)
- Timed tickets must be purchased in advance; the museum's Nature Gardens will also reopen on March 11
Even before spring is officially, on-the-books sprung, the sweetest season makes its presence known in a variety of vivacious ways.
It might be a warm breeze just as February wraps, or a poppy sighting on the first day of March, or the flutter of colorful wings a few days ahead of the vernal equinox.
If spending time among a whole kaleidoscope of beautiful butterflies is your joyful jam, and you'd like to do so as a way to send off winter and welcome spring, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County as something rather wonderful to convey.
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Butterfly Pavilion, the Exposition Park museum's annual walk-among-winged-insects extravaganza, will return just as winter makes its bow.
And for members of the museum?
That engagement begins even sooner, on March 11 (the general public's first day to visit the open-air attraction is March 18).
And even earlier than the first day for members and the first day for the general public? The day tickets go on sale: That's March 8, so wing over to your calendar now and make a note.
As with the 2020 version of the popular annual happening, the 2021 Butterfly Pavilion will have a number of safety protocols in place.
Capacity will be lower, visitor-wise, and you'll want to remember your mask, too.
And if you're guessing advance tickets are a necessity, you'd be correct.
Once inside the pavilion, which is indeed open to the sunlight (but netted in a way to prevent its resident superstars from fluttering off into the sky), you'll behold hundreds of butterflies representing over 30 different species.
Admiring "colorful native plants," the sort of butterfly-pleasing flora that attracts flyers, is part of the walk-thru, as is the chance to maybe-possibly spy a leaf-lounging caterpillar in mid-munch.
Something sweet? The Natural History Museum's Nature Gardens will also re-debut on March 11, if you'd like to take a sunshiny spin by a caboodle of beautiful, just-blooming flowers.
Something spooky? The museum promises the also-popular Spider Pavilion will return just ahead of the equinox that follows the equinox we're about the experience.
We're talking about the start of fall 2021, of course, and lovers of eight-legged critters'll want to keep all of their eyes on Sept. 19 through Nov. 28 for Spider Pavilion's web-wonderful return.
