Florida Museum of Natural History photo by Kristen Grace
Florida Museum of Natural History photo by Kristen Grace

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Museum of Natural History, Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida Performing Arts and Southwest Recreation Center will host the first UF Cultural Plaza Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday featuring free exhibit tours, dance performances and other indoor and outside activities for visitors of all ages.

The Florida Museum will host a pop-up museum where guests may bring fossils from home to identify them with scientists and touch real shark and ray fossils. Visitors may also help transcribe data, including information from 180 images of Alachua County fall flowers, as part of WeDigBio, a worldwide citizen science project to digitize biodiversity collections. Participants can receive prizes such as stickers, tattoos or specimen cards.

“By transcribing specimen information, you can contribute to the international effort to make museum collections and the data about them available worldwide,” said Betty Dunckel, program director for the Florida Museum’s Center for Science Learning. “And we will offer additional activities designed for visitors to explore and discover.”

Visitors will be able to enjoy exhibit tours, art-related activities and a photo booth at the Harn Museum of Art, participate in an obstacle course hosted by the Southwest Recreation Center, and view outdoor dance performances “Floor of the Forest” and “Rafts” by the Trisha Brown Dance Company at 1 p.m., coordinated by the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

The Florida Museum will also offer an Instagram scavenger hunt, face painting and hands-on science exploration at the discovery carts with junior volunteers.

The UF Cultural Plaza is located on Hull Road just east of Southwest 34th Street.

For more information visit www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/calendar/grid/culturalplaza/ or call 352-846-2000.

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Writer: Elizabeth Brown, 352-273-2034, ebrown@flmnh.ufl.edu
Sources: Betty Dunckel, 352-273-2088, bdunckel@flmnh.ufl.edu; Eric Segal, esegal@harn.ufl.edu; Elizabeth Auer,  eauer@performingarts.ufl.edu
Media contact: Paul Ramey, 352-273-2054, pramey@flmnh.ufl.edu