Music, bubbles and blue light will surround Century Tower on Friday night.
The UF College of Medicine and Healthy Gators are collaborating to light the tower blue for World Diabetes Day. People who attend the event will be given bubbles to blow upward to create a blue ring effect.
Before the tower lights up at 6 p.m., live music will begin at 5:15 p.m.
Dr. Ken Cusi, chair of adult endocrinology at UF, and Dr. Desmond Schatz, medical director of UF's diabetes center, will speak, said Kathryn Parker, director of the self-management program at the diabetes center.
She expects 100 to 150 people to attend UF's fourth annual lighting ceremony, about as many people as attended last year. The "Go Blue" campaign is gaining strength, Parker said, and other buildings like City Hall will also light up in blue from Friday to Monday to spread awareness.
The lighting ceremony is meant to encourage the community to get tested for signs of diabetes. About 26 million Americans have diabetes and 79 million are at risk for the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A free blood sugar screening, open to students and the public, will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today on the Reitz Union Colonnade, Parker said.
"We find students with high blood sugar all the time," Parker said. "The other thing we want them to do is take the message home to their families at Thanksgiving."
