Children and families gathered at Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs Saturday for the second annual Turtle Festival, hosted by Holly Springs Park and Recreation and students from a parks, recreation and tourism management class.
The students co-hosted the event as a chance to “get their feet wet” in planning community events.
“My kids really wanted to come to the Turtle Festival,” Stephanie Sudano, class of 1985 and resident of Holly Springs, said. “We came last year and we had a good time.”
Sudano’s daughter, seven-year-old Rachel, said her favorite activity was face painting. Activities for the children ranged from arts and crafts to turtle bingo and hay rides.
Representatives from various community organizations, such as the Museum of Natural Sciences, brought live turtles for participants to see and hold.
“We live out here and we love coming to Turtle Fest,” Michael Davison, who attended with his wife and four children, said. He said the event was great for children because “the kids get to see real turtles and they get to do crafts about the turtles.”
The event lasted four hours and garnered at least 1,000 participants, said Janelle Henderson, professor of the class. Most children were elementary school-aged. Henderson also said the event was a success not only for her students but for the children as well.
“I think it was a great learning experience for the kids,” Henderson said. “I think [the students] did a good job. They were able to arise to every situation and I’m very pleased.”
In the arts and crafts room, children were able to paint and decorate paper turtles, an idea that many parents liked.
“It was a good education experience for them,” Sarah Plummer, resident of Holly Springs, said. “I like how they can do arts and crafts, so they can get into it.”
Plummer’s daughter, four-year-old Skylar, said her favorite activity was making the turtle bookmarks.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Allen Sutton, senior in parks, recreation and tourism management, said. “I didn’t think there’d be this many people here.”
Josuha Bridges, a junior in parks, recreation and tourism management, agreed.
“I thought it looked like everything flowed,” he said. “The kids looked like they were having fun. They looked like they enjoyed themselves.”
This is the second year of the Turtle Festival, the first attracting an estimated 500 people. With highs reaching 82 degrees Saturday, Henderson said the weather contributed to the high turnout.
“We couldn’t have ordered better weather,” she said.