Sea Turtle Day set for Feb. 24 at Gumbo Limbo

Feed tortoises, tour one of South Florida’s last remaining hammock forests and learn about a species protected and rehabilitated by Gumbo Limbo Nature Center at a free festival in Boca Raton this month.

Sea Turtle Day at Gumbo Limbo, which focuses its efforts on coastal education and sea turtle rehabilitation, includes a schedule packed with entertainment, education, food and fun. The festival will be held between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Feb. 24 at the oceanfront park, at 1801 N. Ocean Blvd.

While entrance into the festival is free for all, a donation to the nonprofit Gumbo Limbo is encouraged.

Activities include a tour of the center’s coral reefs and deep water aquariums, gopher tortoise feedings and a tour of the sea turtle enrichment area.

There will be multiple tours on the quarter-mile elevated boardwalk , which winds its way through a thick coastal hammock consisting of red, white and black mangrove trees, a rare ecosystem that once flourished throughout Florida.

For $5, visitors can kayak or paddle board in the Intracoastal Waterway near the nature center.

And for the kids, there will be arts and crafts, face painting and aquarium feedings.

There won’t be on-site parking during the festival, but a shuttle will be picking up and dropping off at Spanish River Park, on Ocean Boulevard just south of Spanish River Boulevard. Shuttles will run from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Gumbo Limbo’s parking lot will be lined with food trucks and picnic tables during the festival. Popular lunch and dessert vendors — such as Chick-fil-A, Woody’s Burgers, 32 Bubbles, BC Tacos Fresh and more — will offer food at the event.

For more information about the festival and the schedule, visit www.gumbolimbo.org.