Downtown is all about kids this weekend.
Saturday will kick off the Foothills Arts Council seventh annual Kids Fest.
“This year’s theme is Atlantis, and we will have activities and crafts that go along with the water theme,” said executive director of the arts council, Leighanne Martin Wright. “We will also have water slides and the Pandemic Steel Drum Band from the Shelby area. It adds a wonderful ambiance to the garden.”
The first Kid’s Fest was all about painting lawn mowers.
“I was racing lawn mowers at the time, and I would take them to different art events to have children paint the hoods,” said Erik Dahlagerv, organizer of Kid’s Fest. “Over the year it’s grown as we’ve gotten more committee members, sponsors and community support.”
This year 250 to 350 children are expected to attend.
Along with crafts, there will be free food, lemonade and snow cones.
But children won’t just be at the Foothills Arts Council on Saturday.
Saturday morning will be kicked off with the children’s parade downtown Elkin, starting in front of the Tribune office and going to the Reeves. The theme of the parade is “Under the Sea.”
“Downtown always has a children’s parade around the Fourth of July where children get to march along dressed up and riding their bikes on Main St.,” said Beth Charles of Downtown Merchants Inc.
Parade registration will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 14, and the parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. At 10 a.m. children will then go into the Reeves to watch a 30 minute play of “The Little Mermaid” performed by a group out of Greensboro. Eris Ball organized the play, sponsored by the Elkin Library, to parallel the Atlantis theme of Kid’s Fest.
“Everyone downtown is working together to organize this weekend. It will be a great event that will tie together the merchants, Foothills Arts Council and the Reeves,” Charles said. “All these events will help bring awareness to downtown for people who might not normally come.”
The events on Saturday, July 14, will begin at 9:30 a.m. in front of the Tribune office for the children’s parade. The “Little Mermaid” play will begin at 10 a.m. at the Reeves. From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. there will be live music and face painting at the Foothill’s Farmers’ Market, and then Kid’s Fest will begin at 11 a.m. and last until 3 p.m. at the the Foothills Arts Council, located at 129 Church St.
KidsFest is funded in part by a grant from the United Fund and the generous sponsorships of these businesses: Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital, The Stereo Shop, Dr. Andrew Lee, Diana’s Bookstore, G&B Energy, Basin Creek Realty, Bliss Spa, Blue Ridge Chocolates, AllStar Rentals, Duke Energy, Barry Revis EdwardJones, Tommy Haynes Nationwide, and Been Framed.
Reach Jessica Pickens at 835-1513 ext. 18 or jpickens@heartlandpublications.com.
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