To mark his 64th birthday, Florida celebrity Snooty the Manatee is hosting the free Wildlife Awareness Festival on Saturday, July 21, 2012, from 10 am to 2 pm in the Spanish Plaza at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, Fla. The festival will include exclusive aquarium exhibits and wildlife presentations on Florida’s engendered species to promote awareness of Florida’s wildlife. Party guests will enjoy free drinks, nibbles, games and art activities, including a birthday card making competition, and a personal appearance by Snooty. For the first time, visitors around the globe can join in the celebration online. From 11:55 a.m. until 12:10 p.m., web users can visit http://www.livestream.com/southflmuseum to view a livecast of the event. Museum staff, volunteers and event attendees will sing “happy birthday” to Snooty at noon. Admission to the festival is free and tickets to the museum are half price.
Bradenton’s South Florida Museum is the largest natural and cultural history museum on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The museum features galleries and exhibitions to educate guests about Florida’s history, marine life and archaic tribes. Also housed within the museum is Parker Manatee Aquarium, home to Snooty, and the Bishop Planetarium. Snooty was born in 1948 in captivity and was brought to the South Florida Museum in Bradenton as part of the 1949 De Soto Heritage Celebration. Since then he has greeted more than one million visitors while enjoying a healthy diet of romaine lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, carrots and fruit.
For more information on the Wildlife Awareness Festival and Snooty’s 64th Birthday Bash, call Tara Poulton at 941.729.9177 Ext 243 or via email at tara.poulton@bacvb.com.
About Anna Maria Island & Longboat Key
Located between St. Petersburg and Sarasota on Florida’s west coast, Anna Maria Island & Longboat Key, and their coastal companions, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch, are treasured for their authentic Old Florida charm, breath-taking scenery, funky dining and shopping districts, and 16 miles of sugar-white sands. The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official destination marketing organization for Manatee County, Florida. Tourism is Manatee County’s leading industry, employing more than 18,000 residents and generating a direct annual economic impact of more than $511 million in the local economy.
For more information, call (941) 729-9177, ext. 243 or visit www.AMILBK.com. We also invite you to follow us on Facebook at “Anna Maria Island & Longboat Key” and Twitter @VisitBradenton.