Inside Flint’s Longway Planetarium.
It’s thrilling, it’s dramatic…
But it might be too loud or hard to watch for some groups of people. So the good people of Longway have special events every month that are “sensory friendly”.
Longway Planetarium’s Market Manager Anne Mancour says “We turn the lights up a little bit and the sound down a little bit. Guests who aren’t used to sitting down for 45 minutes are able to get up and walk around”.
The shows are for anyone who wants a more “chill” planetarium experience. It’s also designed for specific groups.
According to Mancour, “It’s typically for someone with sensory issues like a child with autism or someone on the autistic spectrum or have sensitivity to loud noises or flashing lights”.
Why does Longway do this?
“Our mission is to be accessible and inclusive to the community, so we want to make it something everybody can do” says Mancour.
The next Sensory show is on Saturday, March 11, from 11 – 11:45am.
It’s called Secrets of the Universe.
With Genesee County residents getting 50% off, and military and teachers getting in free, it may be one of the best bargains in town.
In Secrets of the Universe, show-goers are taken back to within a millionth of a second after the Big Bang. Award-winning IMAX documentary filmmaker Stephen Low takes audiences on an exciting science journey to Geneva, Switzerland, home to the massive Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest and most complex scientific instrument humans have ever built at nearly 17 miles around and buried 500 feet underground.
All Longway Planetarium shows are 50% off for Genesee County residents: $4 adults, $3 seniors 60+, and $3 youth ages 2-11.
Sensory-Friendly Planetarium Shows at Longway Planetarium are funded in part by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage.