Enjoy a weekend of paddling, eco-education,  environmental awareness, and family fun

World Paddle For The Planet, an eco-educational fundraiser festival will be coming to Carillon Beach Oct. 10-13, 2013.  The purpose of the event is to educate and raise awareness, sending the message worldwide, to “Be the change you want to see!”  Funds raised by this event will benefit Expedition Florida 500, a project of Mother Ocean.

Education Day, Friday Oct. 11, will feature educational booths presented by NOAA, Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, Turtle Watch, The Shark Whisperer, Lake Powell Community Alliance, and many other groups known locally and nationally, followed by speakers on topics of immediate urgency at a round-table summit. Booths of eco-art will line the main street of Carillon Beach with live music playing on the nearby green.  At sunset, Family Paddle begins on Carillon Lake, an event where families may try out the beautiful LED glowing standup paddleboards provided by NightSUP as the sun goes down.

Saturday’s events will be led off by qigong with British Columbian Planet Paddler Bob Purdy, and Ocean Hour shoreline clean-up led by eco-adventurer Justin Riney of Expedition Florida 500.

At noon on Saturday the feature event begins, a 24-hour endurance paddle, with individual paddlers as well as teams accompanying WPFTP founder Bob Purdy on beautiful Lake Powell.  Paddlers in canoes, kayaks, and on standup paddleboards will paddle, solo or in teams, along a course on the lake for any part of, or all of the 24-hour period from noon on Saturday, October 12, to noon on Sunday, October 13.  Lake Powell Community Alliance will have boats on the Lake to provide water, support, and emergency service.

The festival will close on Sunday, Oct. 13, with a recognition ceremony, event videos, and a concert by musicians of local renown.

For more information or to register for the event, go to: www.worldpaddlefortheplanet.com.