MUDPUPPY FESTIVAL
Bring the Family and Celebrate the Sangamon River's Coolest Creature
LCF's family-friendly annual Mudpuppy Festival is a lively way to learn about the fascinating foot-long mudpuppy salamander —and the lands and wildlife that LCF works to protect.
Monarch Events Center, in downtown Monticello, provides a colorful and welcoming setting. The City of Monticello has proclaimed the day of the festival as “Mudpuppy Day.”
Mudpuppy at Allerton Park. Photo by Alex Lourash
Learn what makes mudpuppies so uniquely weird and wonderful. And see how researchers are counting mudpuppies in the Sangamon River — while mudpuppies are counting on us to keep their rivers clean!
Marissa Jones works on a 2021 mudpuppy survey in the Sangamon River at Allerton Park. Photo by Alex Lourash
Thanks to Our 2023 Festival Sponsors
$1,500 Sponsors
Janice Bahr & Ernie Hoffman
$1,200 Sponsor
Beckett Law Firm, PC
$1,000 Sponsors
Bunny’s Tavern
David & Judy Webb
Rosemary Costello
Lott & SuAnn Thomas
Willow Run Subdivisions—Ted Rund
Ayers Farms
Ayers Law Office
Cim-Tek Filtration
Shonkwiler
$500 Sponsors
Heidi Hurd & Michael Moore
$250 Sponsors
Kirby Medical Center
Robeson Family Benefit Fund
$100 Sponsors
Webber & Thies, PC
Little Bluestem Montessori
Fasprint Monticello
In-Kind Services
Melissa Records, Photographer
Teresa DeWitt, Photographer
Elizabeth Otto, Graphic Artist
Miriam Tworek-Hofstetter, Graphic Artist
Hundreds Attended 2020 Festival
The Land Conservation Foundation’s Mudpuppy Festival on February 1, 2020, was a huge success with 300 people attending, including over 75 children of all ages. LCF extends its thanks to the Monarch Brewing Company for co-hosting this event and Kirby Medical Center and CrossFit/KMC for serving as the lead sponsors.
This event included many kids’ activities focused on the Sangamon River and its wildlife, including mussels, birds, pollinators, and the state threatened mudpuppy, an aquatic salamander. Children had an opportunity to complete mudpuppy crafts and a scavenger hunt, have their wildlife passports stamped, faces painted, and to “fish” for prizes.
LCF also wants to thank Monticello Mayor Larry Stoner for his proclamation naming February 1 as Mudpuppy Day in Monticello. LCF also extends its thanks to the University of Illinois Extension, Master Naturalists; Champaign County Audubon Society; Illinois Natural History Survey; Illinois Department of Natural Resources; Illinois Nature Preserves Commission; and the many sponsors that made this event possible.
Photos by Teresa DeWitt
