With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, our minds are filling with thoughts of a special date with our significant other. It is no different for the little girls in the Auburn area.

This weekend is the 21st annual Daddy/Daughter Date Night. A fun filled night of dancing, pictures, and food for dads to bond with “the other” girl in his life, his daughter.

This event, hosted by the City of Auburn Parks and Recreation Department, has grown in its 21 years from 40 dads and daughters to a three night event with more than 1,500 dads and daughters. Alison Hall, Community Programs Director for the City of Auburn, is in charge of planning this special event and is a big reason for its success.

The young girls in Auburn are in for a treat on February 11-13^th. On each special night, the couples will arrive at the Lexington Hotel on South College Street, check-in, and be directed to a designated area to have their pictures taken by FlipFlopFoto. Picture packages are available to the dads and daughters to commemorate this special evening as well as candid pictures taken throughout the evening.

Hors d’oeuvres are served each night courtesy of Chick-fil-A as well as cupcakes and cookies for each dad and daughter.

After pictures and food, the couples are then directed to the ballroom where tables are decorated in black and silver and stars hang from the ceiling. The rest of the evening is spent dancing to music by DJ Oz. “Throughout the night we will have giveaways and then at the end we have the infamous dance contest where everyone goes crazy and tries to win various trophies,” says Hall.

At the end of the evening, each girl walks away with a goody bag courtesy of Auburn Parks and Recreation Department. The bags are filled with Valentine’s Day trinkets, fortune cookies, bracelets, and fans. “Also in the goody bag are a packet of coupons to encourage the daughters to do something again with their dad on another evening like go to TCBY for a yogurt or attend an Auburn University Basketball game,” says Hall.

The City of Auburn has worked hard to make this night special and memorable for the young girls and their dads and Hall knows that this event is a special way for dads and daughters to spend fun, quality time together.