The Aquarium of the Pacific will host the 23rd annual Festival of Human Abilities on Jan. 24 and 25, featuring the Rollettes, as pictured here at the 22nd annual festival. Photo courtesy of The Aquarium of the Pacific
The Aquarium of the Pacific will host its 23rd annual Festival of Human Abilities, which celebrates the disabled community’s talents, on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The weekend will be full of art, booths and a whole host of performances. Performers who learned to adapt to their mediums, including dancers, musicians and other artists, will present workshops.
“The [festival] aims to celebrate people with disabilities while connecting people with participating groups,” festival manager Chelsey Coleman said in an email statement. “We include live presentations like wheelchair dancing, American Sign Language (ASL) singing, hip hop dance and jazz music.”
To honor contributions made by The Rollettes (a California-based women’s wheelchair dance team) to the lives of women and girls with disabilities worldwide, the aquarium will present the team with the Glenn McIntyre Heritage Award on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
The Rollettes, founded by Chelsie Hill in 2012, offers a wide range of activities, including dance classes, mentorship programs and the Rollettes Experience.
The aquarium will provide accessibility features for the event, including sign language interpreters.
“Access has always been a priority at the aquarium and we do that in many ways year-round,” Coleman said in the statement.
The aquarium already has many accessibility features in place. Exhibits are wheelchair accessible and service dogs are welcome. There are audio tours of the exhibits, and exhibit videos are closed-captioned.
General admission tickets can be purchased on the aquarium website for $44.95 for adults and $34.95 for children.
Jason Green is a fourth-year journalism major entering his last year at CSULB. He transferred from Cypress College as a third-year student. Jason was previously a contributor and is now an Arts & Life assistant editor. He previously interned for EdSource, with two articles published under them. Jason plans on reporting on disabilities after graduation, as he is disabled himself.