Aquarium of the Pacific Will Host its Eighth Annual Baja Splash Cultural Festival

By Marilyn Padilla

Long Beach, CA - In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day, the Aquarium of the Pacific will host its eighth annual Baja Splash Cultural Festival on Saturday and Sunday, September 12-13, 2009 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. This event for the whole family will feature bilingual environmental educational programs, including underwater presentations with divers, as well as traditional dance, crafts, music, storytelling, interactive children’s programs, ethnic food, and much more.

Mexican and Salvadoran folk dance performances, Aztec dancers, mariachi musicians, and other entertainers will perform in front of the Aquarium’s tallest exhibit, the Blue Cavern—home to leopard sharks, giant sea bass, rays, and other denizens of the deep. The Aquarium’s Marine Life Theater will feature interactive cultural music programs for families, and there will be children’s crafts in the Great Hall and ocean mural painting near Lorikeet Forest. Ethnic cuisine will also be available for purchase in Café Scuba. Festival goers can also visit the Museum of Latin American Art's table to receive a FREE admission ticket to this Long Beach museum.

Baja Splash will highlight Mexico’s Gulf of California, which is one of the most important wildlife havens in the world. Through the Aquarium’s bilingual film A Sea on the Edge and Gulf of California exhibition, visitors will be able to learn about this important ecosystem, the threats facing it, and how they can help. Another way to learn more about the Gulf is through a special bilingual presentation on Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13 at 1 p.m. in the Aquarium’s Honda Theater with Jose Zertuche and Antonio Resendiz, marine experts who live and work in Baja Mexico, and Diana Crespo from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) about their current conservation work in the Gulf. The WWF will also feature a booth with bilingual information about the Gulf and their partnership with the Aquarium to help this region. The Baja Splash Cultural Festival is sponsored by At&t. The public can receive a FREE child's admission with the purchase of adult admission by presenting the coupon available at http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/newsevents/eventsdetail/baja_splash/

The Aquarium of the Pacific, a nonprofit institution, is home to over 50 exhibits that are home to a variety of animals found throughout the Pacific Ocean. The Aquarium is open daily from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and is located at 100 Aquarium Way in Long Beach, Calif. General admission is $23.95 for adults (12+), $20.95 for seniors (62+), $11.95 for children (3-11), and free for children under 3 and Aquarium members. For advance tickets and information, the public may visit www.aquariumofpacific.org or call 562/590-3100.

To view Aquarium of the Pacific's web page on Zoo and Aquarium Visitor, go to:  http://www.zandavisitor.com/forumtopicdetail-33-Aquarium_of_the_Pacific