Clowns, art, face painting and a whole lot of buttons are coming to Riverside Park this September as the Kamloops Arts Council’s Children’s Arts Festival returns, this time with two days of free creative fun!
This year’s festival runs Sept 25–26, kicking off on the Friday evening with a free Kamloops Art Party workshop. On Saturday, the Carnival Craze themed Children’s Festival takes over Riverside Park East.
For Kamloops Arts Council Program Coordinator, Tiana Aguiluz, choosing this year’s theme was about keeping the annual festival both fresh and accessible.
The goal was to bring a new theme to a popular children’s event. “I’m always trying to bring new life into, like, the events that I do, because, you know, they occur every year. We don’t want them to get boring or stale,” Aguiluz said.
This year, that meant bringing the carnival to Riverside Park!
“We’ve never done a carnival, and I personally love the carnival,” she said. “What kid doesn’t like the carnival?”
The event will feature a stage filled with both new performers and returning favorites, along with community booths offering many different activities throughout the day. The full lineup of performers and participating community groups will be announced in mid-September. Stay tuned to the Kamloops Arts Council website for updates!
Some favorite activities will also be on hand, including painting, sticker-making, face painting, henna and the ever-popular button maker.
“The kids go crazy for that, actually,” Aguiluz said. “I think it broke, like, midway last year, and there was a frenzy.” She assured me that the button maker is up and running and ready to go!
While the Children’s Festival promises to be loads of fun, there is also a bigger purpose behind the event. It is a chance to make art accessible for children and give them new and fresh opportunities to explore their own creativity.
“It’s really just about, like, bringing the community together and just giving kids an opportunity to work with their hands, explore their creativity, and kind of be open to possibilities that they might not otherwise get,” Aguiluz said.
And making those opportunities accessible to families is a big part of the event. “Art’s expensive. Art workshops are expensive, so this is a completely free day for all families,” she said.
The event has an extra day this year. On Sept. 25 from 4 to 6 p.m., Kamloops Art Party will host a free workshop with 30 spots available. Registration opens at the beginning of September, with more information available through Kamloops Art Party.
They are also looking for volunteers, something Aguiluz says they can never have too many of.
“Always looking for volunteers,” she said. “Always. Never not looking for volunteers.”
Volunteers can sign up almost until the day before festival day. Contact Kamloops Arts Council for information on that!
There are other ways to support the Kamloops Arts Council and festivals such as this one. People can also support the Arts Council by becoming members, attending events, sponsoring programming, and simply spreading the word about the things they do in and for the community.
The festival is geared toward kids ages two to 12, although Aguiluz isn’t planning to be too strict about that upper limit. “It’s going to be a super fun day. Everyone should come,” she said. “It’s going to be great. I’ll let some 13-year-olds in there.”