Saturday October 25th, 2008, 11am- 3.00 pm.
At Lubee Bat Conservancy, 1309 NW 192nd Ave, Gainesville Florida
Announcement: Walt Disney World Co. have added some magic to this year's event ! The Grand Raffle prize will be a voucher for one Savanna room for one night at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge plus 4 complimentary One-Day Park Hopper passes - allowing you and your family access to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom- all in one day.
And YES we know it's a Gator's game day! Most often the game is later on , but this year its earlier - sorry!
Good news – the Bat Festival movement within the USA is growing! While Halloween is traditionally a time to fear the spooky side of bats, it also presents a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the beneficial side of bats and campaign to Save our Nightlife!
Last year over 1000 people from the greater Gainesville area came to spend an afternoon meeting the gentle giants of the bat world. The event is a one-day educational event for families and folks of all ages, which includes a tour of Lubee Bat Conservancy and the unique opportunity to see live fruit bats with 5 ft wingspans eating spectacular edible pumpkin sculptures!
Talks introducing bats as pollinators and about the native bats of Florida are given, along with information about ways that homeowners can avoid conflicts with bats and how maintaining healthy bat habitats benefit other Florida plants and animals.
Groups with tables and displays for 2008 include - Florida Bat Conservancy, Alachua Audobon, Florida Museum of Natural History, Friends of Payne’s Prairie, Watershed Action volunteers. Our staff will also be manning global bat information tables and there will be plenty of craft activities to participate in, including mask-making crafts and batty face-painting.
This year, groups will be selling bat jewelry and crafts, bat photos, T-shirts (in Gator colors!),Wildlfower Seeds, plants and much more.
New! For the first year we will have food vendors offering lunch options.
NEW! To to reduce waiting time to see the bats, this year we have opened up our doors at an earlier time and have opened our back exit/entrance , Visitors viewing bats are now able to walk straight thru and out of the building, reducing congestion.
Our fruit bats are also to be found on exhibit at Disney’s Animal Kingdom – but here at Lubee we offer a unique once-a-year opportunity for you to see the animals up close and learn about their critical role as pollinators and seed dispersers of flowering plants.
Comments about the festival include “It’s the best place we’ve ever been” and “We’ll be late home, we can’t get the kids to leave”. So please save the date and join us!
Entrance is free, but we hope you will be so impressed you might wish to make a donation or Adopt-a-bat, as a way of Saving Florida’s Nightlife!
For more information, please email us at info@lubee.org
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How to get to Lubee Bat Conservancy
Lubee is located approximately 9 miles north of Gainesville at 1309 NW 192nd Ave. (take NW 34th street over NW 13th st./HWY 441 past the highway patrol station until CR 231 forks off to the right. Follow CR231 for several miles, then turn right onto 192nd Ave. Lubee is ahead on your right) Please note that we will only be open to the public on the afternoon of the festival. Visitors at other times are not permitted. Don’t miss this unique opportunity!!
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A Big THANK YOU to our Bat Fest Sponsors 2005, 2006, 2007
If you run a local business and would like to become a partner and sponsor the 4th Florida Bat Fest 2008 - we need your help! Or if you run a local group and would like to have a display table at our festival, please contact our Bat Fest 08 Coordinator Kristie Vetter at info@lubee.org
Renaissance Printing
Gainesville Health & Fitness
Earth Pets
PetSmart
Lowe’s
Hippodrome State Theater
O2B Kids
Pitman Produce
The Produce Distribution Center
The Garden Wholesale Produce
Grandiflora nursery
Hatchett Creek Farms
Mega Comics
Sweetwater Organic Coffee
Skate Station Funworks
Starbucks Coffee Company
Coffee Culture
Gatormania
Alley Gatorz
Alley Katz Corner
Cabana Cove Caribbean Grille
Leonardo’s
La Fiesta Mexican restaurant
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
Harry’s Seafood Bar & grill
Hip Moves
Skate Station Funworks
Wild Birds Unlimited
Terry Zinn/Wildflowers Ltd.
Dampier’s Septic Tank
