JUNO BEACH, Fla. — You can dive into a sea of celebration this Saturday at Loggerhead Marinelife Center's 19th annual TurtleFest.
WPTV journalist T.A. Walker shined a light on the free festival that features family fun.
"TurtleFest is a seaside festival. We have small rides for kids. We got a seaside slide we have a bounce area, we got a rock climbing wall. We've got vendors that do home goods crafts," said Andy Dehart, president and CEO of Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
Around 10,000 people attend the festival annually. There is a change with parking this year to help with traffic congestion.
"ADA parking is available at Loggerhead Marinelife Center all other parking has to be at FPL's Juno Beach location, 700 universe Boulevard, and we're running free shuttles every 15 minutes," Dehart said.
The turtle celebration is held to bring awareness about the beginning of turtle nesting season.
"TurtleFest is our annual kickoff for turtle nesting season which actually has already begun we had a nest on Friday of last week and one yesterday so we're getting an early start to turtle nesting season. And usually, this is the earliest we've ever had turtle nests. In the 10 miles of beach that we monitor," Dehart said.
Loggerhead has a new mascot named Pip that will entertain children along with other well-known mascots and superheroes.
At TurtleFest there will be a new beer that debuts with partial proceeds benefiting the marinelife center.
"We're actually gonna’ have a premium bar this year up on our Ocean Skydeck and we're [going] to launch our partnership with Sailfish Brewing Company. They have a Hazy IPA. That's a collaboration with Loggerhead Marinelife Center that's going to kick off this weekend," said Dehart.
Musical Lineup
- 10 a.m. – 10:20 – Digital Vibes DJ and dance group
- 10:20 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. – Ricky Young
- 11:40 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. – Like Harvey
- 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. – Spider Cherry
- 2:20 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. – The Leafy Greens Band
- 3:40 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. – Brooks Herring
- 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. The Resolvers