Right Whale Festival

 

3rd Annual Right Whale Festival:

November 19, 2011, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Jacksonville Beach, Seawalk Pavilion

 

Celebrate the North Atlantic right whales' annual return to their only known calving area in the Southeast U.S. With as few as 350 remaining, there are many local efforts to protect these critically endangered whales from extinction. Join us at the 2nd annual Right Whale Festival to learn how we can lessen human impacts and bring peace to the right whales that share our coastal waters!

In 2009, the inaugural Right Whale Festival brought enthusiastic participation from sponsors, local vendors and organizations, and the community!  In 2010 we built on that success with an estimated 3,000 participants!!

Saturday, November 19, 2011, we are excited to host the 3rd annual Right Whale Festival, again at the Jacksonville Beach Sea Walk Pavilion.  The Right Whale Festival will be held in late November at the same time right whales are beginning to arrive off the coast of Florida and Georgia.  Each winter right whales migrate south along the east coast of the U.S. to give birth and raise their calves in our warm coastal waters before returning to their feeding grounds by early April.  Right whales face constant threats, such as boat collisions and fishing gear entanglements, associated with sharing their coastal home with humans.  This one-day festival will feature a beach cleanup, activities for children, music, food, and displays geared towards informing and inspiring the community about right whales, their habitat, and their conservation needs.

Winner of the 2011 Poster and T-shirts Design Contest!
Congratulations Ruby Khatcherian!

2011 Tentative Schedule of Events 

  • 9  AM: Beach Run: 5K and Fun Run
  • 9 - 11 AM: Beach Cleanup
  • 10 AM: Festival Officially Begins! Kids's Activities, Booth, Exhibits, Speakers, Obstacle Course, Silent Auction, and More!
  • 10:30 - Noon: Live Children's Music (Saltwater Cowgirls)
  • Noon - 1:30: Live Music (Split Tone)
  • 1:30 - 2 PM: More live Children's Music
  • 2 - 4 PM: Live Music with Split Tone continues on Main Stage
  • 4 PM: Silent Auction Ends - don't miss your chance to get great deals AND help a great cause!

Schedule of Speakers

NEW for 2011: Please stop by the Speaker's Tent where a full schedule of entertaining and informtative speakers will be presenting on a variety of Right Whale and Marine-Theme Topics throughout the day!

 




Time Title Speaker
10 Manatees and dolphins in Northeast Florida Quinton White
10:30 Humans and Dolphins: A Shared Fate Hardy Jones
11 Can you hear me now? Good (Kid's ecolocation game) April Hansgate
11:30 Picture Perfect: Right Whale Photo ID Katie Jackson
12 A day in the life of St Johns River Dolphins Qunicy Gibson
12:30 Doing Right by the Right Whale: Laws and Regulations that protect Right Whales Richard Chesler
1 High in the Sky: Right Whale Aerial Surveys Jen Jakush
1:30 Volunteer Sighting Network for Right Whales Julie Albert, Joy Hampp
2 Humans and Dolphins: A Shared Fate Hardy Jones
2:30 Right Whale Entanglement April Hansgate
3 Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglements Tom Pitchford
3:30  Can you hear me know? Kid's Echolocation Game Gina Miller

2011 Forms Now Available!!
Download a 2011 Vendor Form
Download a 2011 Sponsor Form
Download a 2011 Silent Auction Donation Form
  
Special Rate on Hotel Rooms:
BEST WESTERN Hotel JTB/Southpoint
4660 Salisbury Rd| Jacksonville, FL 32256
P: 904.281.0900 
 

2010 T-Shirts Still Available!! We sold out of the 2010 Right Whale Festival t-shirts but have had them reprinted to meet the demand for other shirts. If you would like a 2010 shirt, please contact jkoelsch@sea2shore.org. Cost: $10 each or 2/$15

 

2010 Festival Recap: Thank you to everyone who made the 2010 Festival a SMASHING SUCCESS, including sponsors, exhbitors, performers, and of course the public!! We had great weather, over 170 volunteers for the cleanup, and an estimated 3,000 participants throughout the day!! Look for photos to be posted here (many already posted on FACEBOOK). Please join us Nov 19, 2011!

    Read the 2010 Press Release
Download a 2010 Festival Poster
   Download a 2009 Festival Poster
VIew Festival Logo   

2011Festival Sponsors and Partners 
(To have your organization or company included, please complete the above Sponsor Form)

Right Whale Level

NOAA logo Sea to Shore Alliance Florida logo

        

 

 Endangered Species Level

FWC logo 2007    Jaxport airport logo    keepers of the coast logo

 

Marine Mammal Level

      Jacksonville Zoo logo

 

Ocean and Coast Level

 Jacksonville university logo Marine Sci Research Inst Jacksonville logo     

mcdonalds logo keep jacksonville beautiful performance multisport logo   EU Jacksonville logocoastal companion logo

The 2011 Right Whale Festival is in need of sponsors!  We greatly appreciate all the support we received in 2009 and 2010 and we hope to make the 2011festival even bigger and better.  Please take a moment to look over the sponsorship form and/or silent auction donation form (links below) to see how you may be able to help.  Thank you for your support!  

AttachmentSize
Poster RWF FINAL.pdf563.48 KB
RWFPress Release2010.doc301.5 KB
RWF2011 Silent Auction.pdf157.7 KB
RWF2011 Vendor.pdf183.12 KB
RWF09 Poster.pdf1009.35 KB
RWF10 lLogo.jpg23.72 KB
CallToArtists_2011RWF.pdf65.65 KB
RWF2011 Sponsor.pdf147.16 KB