New beer garden, large turnout at annual Bat Festival

With Halloween just a week away, some residents faced their fears Saturday — and partook in a beer garden to ease their nerves.

At the 12th Annual Bat Festival, held at the Lubee Bat Conservancy, about 6,000 guests were invited to meet and learn about the sanctuary’s fuzzy flying residents, with admission fees going toward keeping the bats fed.

Anthony Mason, the headkeeper at the shelter, said he enjoys hosting the festival around Halloween and opening the facility to the public, as it helps debunk any negative notions they may have about bats.

“This is the time of year when people are thinking about bats and associating them with scary ideas and vampires,” he said. “What better time to invite people out and dispel some of those myths?”

After seeing a turnout of about 60 people 12 years ago, Mason said the festival has grown year after year, with between 5,000 and 6,000 people showing up last year. Saturday saw a slightly larger crowd, he said.

And as the tradition grows older, new attractions are added every year. This year, it was a beer garden, with bartenders from the Hogtown Brewers. Several locally brewed beers were served from breweries like Swamp Head Brewery, First Magnitude Brewing Company and Infinite Ale Works.

Of all of the private tours and smaller functions hosted at the facility throughout the year, Mason said the bat festival is the conservancy’s biggest fundraising event — it costs $50,000 a year to run — and the festival is its best chance to raise awareness of the threats bats face in the wild.

Gainesville resident and first-time festival attendee Talbott Hwa-Sanderson walked around the shelter as bats ate fruit from jack-o’-lanterns in their cages. He said he was impressed with all the bats and other creatures housed at the conservancy.

“I hope (the festival) helps give this place the exposure it needs,” he said.

President of the Florida Bat Conservation, Shari Blissett-Clark, holds a bat during the Lubee Bat Conservancy’s 12th Annual Florida Bat Festival on Saturday at 1309 NW 192nd Ave.