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Get ready for a Spooktacular time as the Museum of the Gulf Coast opens its doors to a free family fun day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

This marks the fifth year the Museum is hosting the Spooktacular event, and organizers expect large crowds.

Dana Howard, education and tour coordinator for the Museum of the Gulf Coast, said organizers are once again having an ice cream truck on site and someone called the Happy Jester.

The Happy Jester, she said, is a clown who creates balloon animals and entertains children.

Lamar University Robotics Club is going to be on hand with robots to show the children and teens and also provide a learning experience.

Howard said there is also a mobile dairy classroom, live snake education experience and Stable Spirit Horses, among other fun entertainment options.

Tom Neal, director of the Museum, said they are seeing an increase in the amount of people who attend their quarterly events.

For example, last October’s event had approximately 1,100 people visit in three hours while last Christmas event saw 1,550 visitors.

As of Tuesday more than 1,000 people noted they were interested in attending the event via the Museum’s Facebook page.

The Museum gives special thanks to Chevron Phillips and Plant Manager Gary Parsley.

Parsley, a Port Arthur native, said sponsoring the event is important for several reasons.

“The Museum really represents not only Port Arthur, but the surrounding area as far as history. We see that as an important part of the community,” Parsley said.

“We see this as an educational opportunity for people in the area and people in Port Arthur, and that’s one of the things that we really think is important. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time, you know, with investments in the education for the community. So we see this as an opportunity to do that.”

Parsley said Chevron Phillips has been engaged in the community and has supported the community ever since its inception and the intent is that we’ll continue to do that and continue to grow with the community.”

The Museum is located at 700 Procter St. in Port Arthur and can be reached by calling 409-982-7000 or visiting museumofthegulfcoast.org.