Children whose parents complain about them spending too much time captivated by television, video games and computers have the chance to explore an alternative this Saturday.
Kids Fest is billed as an opportunity to “get unplugged” by visiting Riverside Park for an array of activities highlighting the great outdoors. Open to the public, it is a free event slated from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. which is now in its 14th year.
Although as of Wednesday there was a possibility it could be moved indoors due to a threat of rain on Saturday, at last report Kids Fest was scheduled to go as planned at Riverside Park with no word having been received to the contrary.
Organizers with Mount Airy Parks and Recreation earlier announced that more than 20 agencies will be present to offer a day of family-friendly fun and opportunities to be active.
They said this would include the joys of a climbing wall, a bounce house, an obstacle course, fishing in the nearby Ararat River, potting one’s own tomato plants, face painting, Zumbini (an activity that focuses on movement and music for younger children) and many more attractions offered by local agencies.
Among those expected to have a presence at Kids Fest are the Mount Airy Police Department, Mount Airy Fire Department and Surry Arts Council.
“We usually take our ladder truck down there,” Fire Chief Zane Poindexter said Wednesday, which includes letting kids ride in its bucket and otherwise learning about the department and meeting its personnel.
Poindexter applauds the idea behind the unplugged event in encouraging youths to get outside. “The nature of kids is to be inside,” he said in reference to all the electronic distractions dominating their existence nowadays.
Should Saturday’s event be shifted from Riverside Park to an indoors venue, the fire chief said his department will still set up some kind of station to make the most of the situation.
Based on past turnout figures, Kids Fest has a track record of success in luring kids away from their computers and other devices.
One year, a crowd put at 800 to 900 people attended.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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