Family Fun Fest

Family Fun Fest offers fun and educational activities for all ages.

Photos by Thomas Strom and Christopher Boykin

 

Family Fun Fest is a free public program held on the second Sunday of every month from December through April. Each month, a different aspect of the park's diverse resources is highlighted at five hands-on activity stations located around the Dante Fascell Visitor Center. Participants receive a "passport" that they get punched as they complete each station. Those who get all five punches earn a specially-designed button to remember their day.

 

Family Fun Fest is made possible through funding provided by the Captain Bob Lewis Billfish Challenge and the Bobby Duryea Memorial Fund at the South Florida National Parks Trust, with additional support from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, local businesses and organizations, and a host of dedicated volunteers.

 

Family Fun Fest 2013

The next season of Biscayne National Park's award-winning Family Fun Fest starts December 9, 2012. It will be chock-full of brand new activities, as well as the return of some all-time classics. The event's signature zany themes, creative activities and colorful buttons will all be back - and its all FREE!

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The theme for the 2012-2013 season will look at all kinds of stars: the famous kind, the sea kind, the movie kind, and even the "real" kind (with our nearest star, the Sun) with a season-long theme of Starpower!

American All-Stars
December 9, 2012 - 1 - 4 p.m.
Family Fun Fest takes a road trip to visit some great Americans memorialized at other National Parks across the country. Discover a few of the 300 uses for the peanut developed by George Washington Carver, learn what inspired Clara Barton to found the American Red Cross, design your own coin with sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and more. Come early to witness a special ceremony welcoming the next generation of Great Americans when kids become citizens of the United States!

Sea Star Wars
January 13, 2013 - 1 - 4 p.m.
A salute to one of the most popular film series of all time…with a twist! Join Luke Seawalker as you explore some seriously cool animal adaptations in the Mos Eisley Cantina, let Sea3PO and ROV2 help you operate your own underwater robot, and fight to defeat the Dearth Invader and his alien stormtroopers that threaten YOUR national park! Don't forget to dress the part!

A Salute to Hollywood
February 10, 2013 - 1 - 4 p.m.
Nothing shouts "stars" like Hollywood! Celebrate Oscars month with a look back at Biscayne's versions of some award winning films, including My Fair Lady, The Sting, On the Waterfront and Out of Africa. And no trip down the red carpet would be complete without Joan Oceans choosing the best and worst-dressed fish on the reef!

500 Years in the Sunshine State
March 10, 2013 - 1 - 4 p.m.
Biscayne National Park contains evidence of nearly 10,000 years of human history, but the name Florida doesn't come onto the scene until the spring of 1513. Retrace Florida's first 500 years through Ponce De Leon's discovery of the Gulf Stream, a Tequesta archaeological dig, shipwrecks from the great European powers, and more.

It's SUN-day!
April 14, 2013 - 1 - 4 p.m.
Family Fun Fest is always on a Sunday, but this month its really SUN-day! Our nearest star is responsible for life on our planet by keeping us warm and supplied with oxygen and food through plants, but did you know the sun can also be used for cooking, creating electricity, and helping you fly a kite?