The Airdrie Children’s Festival is returning this weekend with a free two-day, youth-focused, action-packed, educational-but-fun celebration in Airdrie.
The festival takes place at Nose Creek Regional Park on May 28 and 29, with the goal of bringing back the same local children’s event that was last held in 2019.
“We feel the 2022 festival is going to be pretty much exactly what we saw in 2019 and we're really hoping people come out and support it,” said Airdrie Children’s Festival board member Tara Levick.
“COVID-19 really put a halt on kids being kids. [They were] not allowed to interact class-to-class, not allowed to high-five after a hockey game or anything like that, so we're just hoping that they come and have fun and they leave feeling the way kids are supposed to feel.”
The Airdrie Children’s Festival was first held in 2018 and provided a free, all-inclusive event with several learning components.
This year will mark the third Airdrie Children’s Festival, as the public gathering was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-related public health restrictions.
Levick noted all four components of the festival will remain the same this year, including live entertainment, inspiration stations, the children’s village, and off-site educational workshops.
Entertainment includes headlining act Smilin’ Rylan, who will be singing songs and playing the guitar, circus artist Kate Ryan with her hula-hoop performance skills, and various roving entertainers throughout the festival grounds and on stage.
Inspiration stations are the core piece of the festival, according to Levick, where local businesses and community supporters teach kids a special skill.
“[We have] an electrical company teaching kids how electricity travels through a circuit board and how a light turns on, we have the calgary zoo coming with artifacts, we have a robotics company teaching kids how robots are built and what you can use them for and all those types of things,” Levick said.
Another key component of the festival is the children’s village, considered the fun zone. The children’s village is where carnival games and other fun activities can be found.
Lastly, the off-site workshops provide hands-on learning throughout the city of Airdrie and require kids to sign up prior to the festival.
“We have a workshop at Iron Horse Park, learning about the steam train engines. We have a workshop with a CTV photo-news reporter, teaching kids what it's like to hold that career and how she got there and what she does in a day,” Levick explained.
Some workshops do have age restrictions but most are wide open. While a few workshops are already completely filled, there are still some others left with space for kids to sign up.
The festival in 2019 saw around 6,000 people come over the two days and organizers are cautiously optimistic about seeing similar numbers again this year.
“As a parent myself, there are not a lot of things I can do with my kids in a day that are free and fun and engaging,” Levick said. “I think it's important that this festival can reach any and all people.”
Families can come for just one hour or stay all day to enjoy every activity without paying a dollar, Levick added.
Organizers are still looking for volunteers to help out with the event and have some key roles to fill. More information on how to volunteer, as well as signing up for the city-wide workshops can be found online at airdriechildrensfest.com.
