Event to be hosted by the Patterson Foundation
Sarasota’s first Age-Friendly Festival will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds, hosted by The Patterson Foundation.
More than 125 interactive exhibits, hands-on experiences and education sessions have been planned for the free event, a Patterson Foundation blog reports. “Food trucks will be there for gastronomic pleasures,” the blog adds, and live entertainment will be provided.
The festival will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. at the fairgrounds, which are located at 3000 Ringling Blvd. in Sarasota. Parking also will be free, the festival website points out.
Among the activities and demonstrations will be brain games; dance trance; aerial yoga; therapeutic drumming; exercise classes, including Zumba; “education about special animals, including greyhounds, guide dogs in training, llamas, parrots and horses (“see them up close!” a news release says); pickleball; musical instrument explorations; art opportunities; health screenings; and a imagination playground, according to the festival website.
The City of Sarasota staff has planned a number of exhibits, the city has reported:
- One of the city’s free, environmentally friendly iRide vehicles will be on display, and representatives of the Parking Operations Division will be available to discuss a new parking app.
- Festival-goers will have the chance to apply their recycling knowledge and agility with a fun toss game.
- A putting green will be set up for attendees to test their putting skills, with guidance from staff with the historic municipal Bobby Jones Golf Club.
- With assistance from the Human Resources staff, festival-goers will have the opportunity “to experience what it’s like to ‘see through the eyes of an elderly person’ via special glasses designed for elder sensitivity training,” the city news release says.
- Attendees will be able to see, touch and smell unique leaves and practice identifying leaves with one of the city’s arborists. Additionally, trees will be given away.
“Demographically,” the Patterson Foundation notes, Sarasota County is the oldest county in the U.S. (with populations over 300,000), and it is “an epicenter for the Longevity Revolution.”