Penguin Parade

National Aviary

September 27 & 28
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Why party with ordinary humans when you can become well acquainted with some very friendly penguins?

The National Aviary invites kids of all ages and their families to waddle, swim or slide on in to its special Party with the Penguins programs taking place on September 27th and 28th.

Discover the charismatic African Penguins (read: Spheniscus demersus) and launch special rubber ducks, which are used as an enrichment activity for the penguins, into their pool habitat during play time. Also called black-footed penguins, African Penguins are known for their donkey-like bray, distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and black facial mask.

Take a selfie with your new penguin pals (bring your own camera if you like!), make and wear your own penguin party hat and try to win your very own birthday party with a penguin.

Don’t forget to dress like everybody’s favorite flightless bird! Younger visitors who dress in black and white party clothes may even be invited to join the penguins as they parade through the National Aviary.

Ready to be transported to the rocky shores of South Africa? Step into the Aviary’s Penguin Point to experience the sights, sounds and even the smells, of a real penguin colony. Home to 17 African Penguins, the spacious, immersive open-air exhibit gives visitors a 360-degree perspective of what penguins do best: waddling, squabbling, scaling rocks and torpedoing their way through the water.

Experience underwater views of the penguins’ aquatic antics as they “fly” through the pool, pop up amidst the exhibit’s noisiest residents via special domed bubbles and observe penguins congregating in cozy heated nest cubbies.

All Party with the Penguins activities are included with Aviary admission.

Jennifer has worked at the Mattress Factory, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Dahesh Museum of Art and is co-author of Pittsburgh Signs Project: 250 Signs of Western Pennsylvania. She also is co-coordinator of Handmade Arcade. Musically, she is in a band called The Garment District and is a founding member of Brooklyn's The Ladybug Transistor.