Tennessee Aquarium Newsroom

contact: Kathie Fulgham
or Katrina Craven

Grand opening events for
Tennessee Aquarium’s new Ocean Journey

WHAT: When the Tennessee Aquarium opens its new Ocean Journey building, you'll flip your fins during a weekend full of fun and fishy festivities. The Aquarium’s plaza will bump to a samba beat with schools of fish, fluttering butterflies, a stiltwalker, a skyjumper, samba dancers and giant puppets. Here's how to go with the flow.

WHEN:
Friday, April 29 --

9:15 a.m. – "Parade of Fishes" See adorable children in their hand-made costumes, giant sea creature puppets, samba musicians and dancers and street performers in this celebration of the sea and the new Ocean Journey experience. Check out the “talent”

9:45 a.m. – Choral performances by the renowned Chattanooga Boys Choir and Chattanooga Girls Choir will lead into a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Aquarium plaza.

11 a.m. – Ocean Journey opens to the public. Meet your favorite radio personalities on the Aquarium plaza and register to win prizes.

11 a.m. – 2 p.m. – Lunch on the Landing – Bring your lunch or purchase one from a vendor and have a picnic on the new waterfront – specifically on the Chattanooga Green at Chestnut and Riverfront Parkway. Special entertainment, soft drinks and food vendors will be available.

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. – Tour Ocean Journey – Dive beneath the waves on an awesome adventure through a coral reef teeming with 10-foot sharks, fierce barracuda and graceful stingrays. In the Undersea Cavern you’ll feel like a diver meandering through an underwater world where dramatic views reveal beautiful reef creatures.

Discover a lush tropical cove where 100 feet of shoreline beckons you to a touch pool where you’ll encounter small bamboo sharks and stingrays. Glide through a serene rainforest fluttering with a thousand jewel-colored butterflies.

From enchanting jellyfish to giant spider crabs, the “Boneless Beauties” gallery explores the mysterious world of rarely seen invertebrates. Octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus round out this spectacular gallery of seagoing stars.

Friday through Sunday, April 30 & May 1 --

Enjoy special entertainment on the plaza all weekend Check out the “talent”

• World fusion music by Earthshaking Samba Band, Paul Vogler and Mawuko
• Animal Nation, “Mother Earth’s music with a beat”
• Dynamic Skyjumper and Stiltwalker, regular performers at DisneyWorld and Universal Studios
• Participate in Flumpa’s World: Water, Water Everywhere

WHERE: The parade will line up at Power Alley and continue down Second Street past the IMAX 3D Theater to Broad Street, where it turns left into the plaza’s horseshoe drive.

The Tennessee Aquarium inspires wonder and appreciation for the natural world. Admission is $17.95 per adult and $9.50 per child, ages 3-12. Each ticket purchased helps support Aquarium conservation programs. The IMAX® 3D Theater is next door to the Aquarium. Ticket prices are $7.95 per adult and $5.50 per child. Aquarium/IMAX combo tickets are $21.95 for adults and $12.50 for children. Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.tnaqua.org or by phone at 1-800-262-0695. The Aquarium, located on the banks of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, is a non-profit organization. Open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Aquarium and IMAX are accessible to people with disabilities. Members enjoy unlimited visits and other benefits. Call 267-FISH to join.

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ONLINE Newsroom: http://www.tnaqua.org/Newsroom/Newsroom.asp
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