It’s finally time to break out the dancing shoes and dance moves once again. The Perry Park Center is set to host the annual Ties and Tiara event on Saturday, March 27.
The dance is scheduled to take place from 6:30-9 p.m. with the doors to open at 6 p.m.
The event was cancelled in 2020, with just about everything else, but League and Event organizer Kaelin Casasola felt that this would be the right time to bring back the event.
“We wanted to have the event this year,” Casasola said. “The restrictions have eased a little bit, but we still want to do it and do it safely.”
Along those lines, the number of attendees has been reduced to just 250 people. In past years, the event has had more than 500 people. For safety concerns that number was cut in half.
“That’s just not because of COVID,” Casasola said. “When you have 450-500 people in one place safety overall can be an issue and that’s something we looked at.”
The event will feature individually wrapped cookies, along with a candy bar that will feature prepackaged mini Snickers and Laffy Taffy. Chocolate roses will also be a treat that attendees can enjoy.
There will be two photo booths, with one dedicated to taking individual selfies, while the other will have professional photographer.
“With COVID in mind we didn’t want to do the ice cream sundae bar so people wouldn’t have to touch the handles and things like that,” Casasola said. “Everything will be pre-packed so no one is actually touching any food.”
Casasola noted that spots are filling quite fast as there are nearly 190 people signed up to attend. The registration deadline is set for Sunday, March 21 and the cost is $8. Tickets will not be sold at the door.
“We thought that we would sell out pretty quickly because we had 100 signups on the first day alone,” Casasola said. “That has tapered off somewhat, but we fully expect to sell out of tickets.”
While the event is advertised as a “father-daughter” event, Casasola noted that grandpas, uncles, and brothers are welcome too. The event is geared toward children aged 3-14, but others also attend the dance as old as 16. Casasola believes it allows families to have face-to-face time.
“It’s still technically the father-daughter dance, but we did name it the Ties and Tiara event to make it more inclusive,” she said. “We are definitely trying to move more that way to include uncles and other relatives. We don’t want anyone to be left out or feel like they can’t attend.
The event is one of the biggest that the Park Center holds each year.
“We love to see everyone dressed to the nines and having a good time,” Casasola said.
