Father-Daughter Date Night Sponsored by Cookeville Leisure Services

Father-Daughter Date Night tickets on sale Jan. 7

It’s a date Cookeville fathers and daughters want to keep – even after 30 years.                            

So let the dress shopping begin.

“Dads will do anything for their daughters, and that includes dancing to all kinds of crazy music – everything from the Chicken Dance to the Cha-Cha Slide,” Cara Sheets, Cookeville Leisure Services recreation superintendent, said of one of the city’s most popular events, Father-Daughter Date Night. “And for the daughters, it’s about carving out that memory with their dad. It’s just a magical evening.”

The 30th annual Father-Daughter Date Night is set for Feb. 17, 18, 24 and 25 at 6 p.m. at the Leslie Town Centre.

Tickets are $27.50 per person and available at www.cookeville-tn.gov/ls/events/father-daughter-date-night beginning Jan. 7 at 8 a.m., with a maximum purchase of 10 tickets. No phone registrations or walk-ins will be taken that day.

In addition to dancing, Father-Daughter Date Night includes dinner, professional photography and a gift bag for each daughter.

Cookeville Leisure Services programmer Mildred Garrett recalls the first Father-Daughter Date Night, which she helped organize three decades ago.

“It took off like wildfire,” she said.

Garrett, whose own father “absolutely loved” the event, said she isn’t surprised that it’s still going strong after all these years.

“There are a bunch of people who went the first year who are still attending,” she said.

Some attendees started the tradition when their daughters were just babies. Now those babies are teenagers or adults with daughters of their own – and many of them now go to Father-Daughter Date Night together.

“It’s become a generational thing,” Garrett said.

Garrett also pointed out that since not all girls have fathers, father figures – including grandfathers, uncles and big brothers – are welcome to join in the fun.

“All tickets, whether picked up at the Cookeville Performing Arts Center, printed at home or stored on your mobile device, will have a unique bar code and must be presented before entrance into the Leslie Town Centre on the night of the event,” Sheets said.

Tickets will be scanned at the door.

Sponsorship options – which include tickets, reserved seating, recognition at the event and sponsor information in the gift bags – are available as follows:

  • Platinum: $1,040 for 16 tickets and 16-top reserved table
  • Gold: $520 for eight tickets and eight-top reserved table
  • Silver: $260 for four tickets and four reserved seats
  • Bronze: $130 for two tickets and two reserved seats

One additional ticket may be purchased for an additional $27.50.

Those interested in sponsorship must call 931-526-7393 by noon on Jan. 5. For more information, call Sheets at 931-520-5297.