ISHPEMING — The Marquette County West End Youth Center and Marquette County 4-H will be hosting their annual Monarch Butterfly Festival on Saturday.

Named for the butterflies that annually migrate to their winter homes in central Mexico, the festival aims to promote awareness and encourage wellness surrounding youth mental health and substance abuse.

According to MCWEYC’s website, “Our mission is to create a safe haven, a chrysalis that will allow our children to blossom into the amazing adults we know they can be… (a) place where every kid, regardless of funds or transportation, can go to feel protected, loved and where they can learn to feel comfortable in their own skin. Without this type of access our children have too often fallen into the downward spiral of drugs and depression and poverty… (W)ith this access, if we can prevent one downward spiral, our mission will be complete.”

The festival will have food and games, live music from local BEATRIX and Day Dreamers of Marquette, Trophy Boy from Houghton, and Wasted Pretty of Wisconsin.

It will be held from 3-9 p.m. Saturday at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming.

In addition to the festival, the MCWEYC also provides an afterschool program for children in grades 1 through 12, which offers counseling, tutoring, music and physical activities, and snacks.

Membership is available at $50 per year, with sponsorship available for families who cannot afford it.

For more information regarding the festival or MCWEYC services, call 906-250-8163, email at contact@westendyouth.org, or visit its website at westendyouth.org.