Isabella Hodnett (left) and Alyssa Wright (right) look at plants in the Beal Botanical Garden during BealFest at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026.
On Sept. 17, W.J. Beal Botanical Garden kicked off its season with the annual BealFest, welcoming students back into the space. The event featured a lineup of campus and community organizations, many focused on sustainability and the environment. Attendees could grab free treats from the MSU Dairy, participate in different art activities and even take a photo with Sparty, who made a special appearance.
The historic green oasis is tucked right in the heart of MSU’s campus and is one of the oldest collegiate botanical gardens in the United States. Home to over 200 unique species, the gardens are designed to be a retreat for students amid a busy campus. For many, its fall welcome event is a season highlight.
Since the first BealFest in 2023, which celebrated the garden’s 150th anniversary, each year’s festival has had its own theme. This year’s theme, “Wild Harmony,” is meant to celebrate the balance between campus life and the natural world.
“Our mission is to illuminate the interconnectedness of people, plants and place,” said Alan Prather, the director of the garden. “What wild harmony means is to think about how different components of nature and life can come together and coexist. Hopefully, when those elements come together and harmonize, we’re all happier and better people.”
Around the garden, students staffed tables representing that same mission. Horticulture senior and Beal scholar Jacqueline Carr ran a craft station during the event, where visitors could stamp tote bags with botanical designs and make pins featuring native plants.
As a Beal scholar, Carr spent her summer helping maintain the garden under the leadership of horticulturist Bethany Troy. Now, in the fall, she has shifted to helping run more events like BealFest.
“I think that BealFest is a great opportunity because people walk through here all the time, but they don’t really know what we’re about,” Carr said. “Students that aren’t really involved in the horticulture world have a chance to be outside and see our plant specimens, even if they don’t realize what they’re looking at. They’re still walking by and observing everything, and plus, it’s just a nice space to be in.”
A few tables down, plant biology junior and Plant Biology Club treasurer Maya Mollema helped run a table focused on pollinators and native plants. BealFest has become an annual tradition for the club, which has partnered with the garden for several years.
“Beal is such a special place,” Mollema said, “And BealFest is really fun because a lot of people from the STEM community come together and you get to see what everyone is working on.”
BealFest also draws students well outside the environmental sciences. Digital storytelling sophomore Teagan Murphy first heard about the event through a flyer in the dining hall. Already a frequent visitor of the gardens, she knew that she wanted to check out the festival.
“I think my favorite part about the Beal Gardens is its purposeful calm,” Murphy said. “The plants are just so gorgeous and being from the city, I love all the little snippets of nature I can get here.”
Acting as a kickoff, BealFest is just the start of a full slate of programming still to come. The garden’s ongoing Wellness Wednesdays continue to offer students simple ways to bring mindfulness and nature into their routines. Additionally, a collaboration with the MSU Library will bring a series of sustainability-focused tours, including a special Halloween series on how plants have been used in mysticism.
With a full calendar ahead, the garden will continue to offer a green oasis to students. For Prather, this fall rush is the most rewarding stretch of the year, especially as the late summer blooms start to turn. In just a few weeks, the garden will be at its most colorful.
