BE ADVISED: On Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27, nearby events at Exposition Park and the University of Southern California will impact traffic, parking, and wayfinding in the area. Please consider riding the Metro E (Expo) Line and exiting at USC/Expo station.

Bug Fair 2025

Saturday, May 17–Sunday, May 18 | 10 am–5 pm
Add to calendar 2025-05-17 10:00:00 2025-05-17 17:00:00 NHM - Event - Bug Fair 2025 Natural History Museum nhmla webmaster@nhm.org America/Los_Angeles public
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Date

Saturday, May 17–Sunday, May 18 | 10 am–5 pm

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Location

Natural History Museum
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Tickets

Tickets will be available on April 28!
Free with paid Museum admission and to Members
Members receive exclusive access from 9–10 am. Join today!

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Over one million species. Only one Bug Fair.

Come to NHM on May 17 and 18 for the 39th annual Bug Fair, our two-day festival celebrating our bug-eyed and multi-legged friends! Experience up-close encounters with crawly creatures, learn all about the immense biodiversity of insects, get hands-on and crafty, and so much more! Also while you’re there, be sure to visit a variety of exhibitors who will be displaying and selling everything from exotic insect collections to amazing bug-related products. 

#NHMLA #BugFair 

Bug Fair - Exhibitor with tarantula

Bug Fair 2025 Exhibitors

Visit a variety of exhibitors to see exotic insect collections and to purchase bug-related products, bugs for pinning, and live bugs as well!

Schedule of Events 

Full program schedule coming soon!

Ongoing Programs

  • Welcome Tables: Great location for all Bug Fair info!
  • Bugtopia
  • Coloring Station
  • Butterfly Barrette Activity 

Timed Programs/Activities

  • 10:30 am & 11:30 am | Ocean Encounters: Dive into a prehistoric undersea adventure with our brand new, live performance starring life-size sea creature puppets. Join us as our amazing puppeteers and paleontologists bring these extinct animals to life. *Additional paid admission is required.
  • 11 am–3 pm | Building Bug Tales: Not ready for a live bug pet? Museum educators will help you befriend a toy bug, personalize it, imagine its backstory, and snap photos in bug-sized scenery before taking it home to love forever.
  • 11:15 am | Giant Bee: Thank you to the pollinators! Enjoy this giant bee puppet and its four puppeteers bringing it to flight!
  • 1–5 pm | “A Real Bug’s Life” Screening: Inspired by the World of Disney and Pixar's “A Bug's Life,” this series from National Geographic, is an incredible adventure into different micro bug worlds around the globe. Enjoy a glimpse of season 2 of the show!

Stage Presentations

  • 10:30 am | Lola and the Bees: Join Lola as she journeys first into the world of honeybees and then into the wider world of native bees.  Based on a true story, this tiny but mighty puppet show with live music invites us to enjoy the magical and essential world and works of bees.
  • 11:30 am and 1:30 pm | Curious About the Future of Food?: Join Aly Moore of Bugible for a tasty crash course in entomophagy — the practice of eating insects. Discover why bugs are a sustainable, protein-packed snack enjoyed around the world, and stick around to try a bite (if you dare)! Samples available while supplies last.
  • 12:30 pm | Revenge of the Plants!: Not all plants are helpless victims. Learn about a group of curious plants that lure insects with sweet nectar only to devour them.

Museum Display Tables

  • 9 am–5 pm | Museum Collections: Chat with members of our Entomology Collections department and learn about the bugs they study.
  • 9 am–5 pm | Moorpark College's The Butterfly Project & SEEDS Chapter of ESA: We rear endangered butterflies for release to the wild & branch out further with our ecological efforts through SEEDS.

Learn more about Bug Fair participants!

Photo of Aly Moore

Aly Moore - Bugible

After studying public health at Yale, Aly started blogging about the nascent ‘insect industry’ on Bugible.com. Over the years, Bugible’s work has evolved to include advocacy, education, event hosting, and working with companies restoring insects to our food system. She’s featured 90+ times in media, including Forbes, Bill Nye, LA Times, and even her own network cooking show. Moore is here to replace fear of the unknown with curiosity to explore - to open minds and mouths to a more sustainable, nutritious, delicious, and biodiverse future. 

Photo of One Grain of Sand

One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater

One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater began in the fall of 2001 with a small suitcase show and the idea that even one tiny grain of sand can tilt the balance toward a more positive future. One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater includes puppetry artists, musicians, visual artists, actors, choreographers, educators and community organizers. We focus on very small portable shows and also very large puppets for festivals, pageants, community actions and parades.  The core of the work is sharing the ordinary/extraordinary stories of everyday people. The heart lies in building communities through puppet theatricals that explore cultural reclamation, ancient myth, connection to the earth, little known community stories and the issues of our time. 

To learn more about the One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater, visit their Instagram and Facebook.

Logo for The Butterfly Project

Moorpark College's The Butterfly Project & SEEDS Chapter of ESA

Our research concerns rearing and studying endangered lepidopterans and it is our absolute joy to release captive-reared endangered butterflies to the wild multiple times each year from our lab. We collaborate with ESA SEEDS Chapter at Moorpark College in ecological investigations, outreach and volunteer opportunities.

Image of Horticulture staff working in the garden

Horticulture Team
The Museum has a dedicated staff of horticulturalists that oversee the care and maintenance of our gardens. The Nature Gardens has over 600 kinds of plants, including California natives and others from around the world, that are home to a variety of birds, butterflies, lizards, squirrels, and more! This amazing team enjoys sharing their love for horticulture and gardens with the local community.
Follow Nature Gardens on Instagram @nhmla_naturegardens

Image of Living Collections team presenting a live animal

Living Collections
Did you know the museum has a team of professional animal keepers on site 365 days a year? They take excellent care of all animals on exhibit and behind the scenes at the museum, utilizing the natural history expertise of our scientists as well as our veterinarian, who advises on any medical and nutritional needs. Because even a frog needs a doctor sometimes. We have around 15-25 species of vertebrates, and 70-100 species of invertebrates at any given time.  
Follow Living Collections on Instagram @nhmla_liveanimals

Image of Museum Educator leading a Storytime program.

Museum Educators

The Museum Educator team at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County are the knowledgeable staff that enhance the visitor experience through personal interaction. Through research and training, Museum Educators create and facilitate educational programs for general museum visitors, for school groups, and for special events, both in-person and virtual.

Image of Performing Arts team members

Performing Arts

The team behind the Performing Arts department at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County creates live theatrical performances based on our exhibits, research, collections, and events. Learn more about this unique program HERE

Image of a collection display table

Research and Collections
The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County protect and share more than 35 million specimens and artifacts, the largest natural and cultural history collection in the western United States. The Research and Collections Department is the research institution within the museums. They create new knowledge through academic scholarship in history and science. Visitors can get up close to these fascinating objects and specimens, which are sometimes displayed in exhibitions and during museum events. 

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Aly Moore - Bugible

After studying public health at Yale, Aly started blogging about the nascent ‘insect industry’ on Bugible.com. Over the years, Bugible’s work has evolved to include advocacy, education, event hosting, and working with companies restoring insects to our food system. She’s featured 90+ times in media, including Forbes, Bill Nye, LA Times, and even her own network cooking show. Moore is here to replace fear of the unknown with curiosity to explore - to open minds and mouths to a more sustainable, nutritious, delicious, and biodiverse future. 

One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater

One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater began in the fall of 2001 with a small suitcase show and the idea that even one tiny grain of sand can tilt the balance toward a more positive future. One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater includes puppetry artists, musicians, visual artists, actors, choreographers, educators and community organizers. We focus on very small portable shows and also very large puppets for festivals, pageants, community actions and parades.  The core of the work is sharing the ordinary/extraordinary stories of everyday people. The heart lies in building communities through puppet theatricals that explore cultural reclamation, ancient myth, connection to the earth, little known community stories and the issues of our time. 

To learn more about the One Grain of Sand Puppet Theater, visit their Instagram and Facebook.

Moorpark College's The Butterfly Project & SEEDS Chapter of ESA

Our research concerns rearing and studying endangered lepidopterans and it is our absolute joy to release captive-reared endangered butterflies to the wild multiple times each year from our lab. We collaborate with ESA SEEDS Chapter at Moorpark College in ecological investigations, outreach and volunteer opportunities.

Horticulture Team
The Museum has a dedicated staff of horticulturalists that oversee the care and maintenance of our gardens. The Nature Gardens has over 600 kinds of plants, including California natives and others from around the world, that are home to a variety of birds, butterflies, lizards, squirrels, and more! This amazing team enjoys sharing their love for horticulture and gardens with the local community.
Follow Nature Gardens on Instagram @nhmla_naturegardens

Living Collections
Did you know the museum has a team of professional animal keepers on site 365 days a year? They take excellent care of all animals on exhibit and behind the scenes at the museum, utilizing the natural history expertise of our scientists as well as our veterinarian, who advises on any medical and nutritional needs. Because even a frog needs a doctor sometimes. We have around 15-25 species of vertebrates, and 70-100 species of invertebrates at any given time.  
Follow Living Collections on Instagram @nhmla_liveanimals

Museum Educators

The Museum Educator team at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County are the knowledgeable staff that enhance the visitor experience through personal interaction. Through research and training, Museum Educators create and facilitate educational programs for general museum visitors, for school groups, and for special events, both in-person and virtual.

Performing Arts

The team behind the Performing Arts department at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County creates live theatrical performances based on our exhibits, research, collections, and events. Learn more about this unique program HERE

Research and Collections
The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County protect and share more than 35 million specimens and artifacts, the largest natural and cultural history collection in the western United States. The Research and Collections Department is the research institution within the museums. They create new knowledge through academic scholarship in history and science. Visitors can get up close to these fascinating objects and specimens, which are sometimes displayed in exhibitions and during museum events. 

Meet the Emerald Cockroach:
 

Highlights from previous Bug Fairs!

Bug Fair 2022 - Entomology table display
Bug Fair 2022 - Live bug presentation (1)
Bug Fair 2022 - Butterfly walks
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug Band on stage
Bug Fair 2022 - Honey exhibitor
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug Fair exhibitor display
Bug Fair 2022 - Exhibitor hall with guests
Bug Fair 2022 - Tarantula exhibitor with a guest
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug pinning collections for sale
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug Fair exhibitor (2)
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug collection display case
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug crafts
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug chef demonstrations
Bug Fair 2022 - Live bug presentation (2)
Bug Fair 2022 - Bug Fair exhibitor (3)
Bug Fair 2022 - Live bugs for sale
Bug Fair 2022 - Live bug presentation (3)

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