KidsFest San Diego Returns to Liberty Station May 17-18 | San Diego’s Largest Hands-On Creative Festival for Kids and the Whole Family!

May 12, 2014

KidsFest - San Diego’s wildly popular hands-on, creative festival for children and their families - will return May 17-18! Presented by the Chloe Nichols Foundation, KidsFest 2014 will transform the NTC Ingram Plaza in Point Loma into a 100,000-square-foot wonderland of pure, uncomplicated play for the entire family, with activities designed to stimulate and celebrate the imagination. KidsFest organizers believe in the power of unplugging and playing, in the joy of finding inspiration everywhere and they value recycling, repurposing and reinventing, so that we as a society can leave our children a clean and pure planet.

Tickets for KidFest are available now. Single tickets are $17 and a Family Four Pack is $50. Tickets can be purchased online at kidsfestsandiego.com. KidsFest San Diego is proudly presented by Honest Tea and CLIF Kid and by media sponsors KYXY 96.5, ENERGY 103.7, and print sponsors UT San Diego and San Diego Family Magazine.

“KidsFest is a celebration of the imagination to honor our angel Chloe,” said Dharma Nichols, executive director of KidsFest and Founder of the Chloe Nichols Foundation. “We are so excited to bring KidsFest back to San Diego. It’s going to be a great event, filled with fun and play for the whole family. We hope everyone comes out and joins us next weekend at Liberty Station.”

KidsFest will feature over 100,000 square feet of interactive stations where kids can move, sing, create, and escape in pure play. Just a few of the activities include:

• New this year: Hullabaloo, the outrageously popular folk, funk and rock band for kids, will perform on the main stage on Saturday, May 17 at noon. Special celebrity appearances include Toothless of the popular movie How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Ronald McDonald.
• The Messy Zone – Kid Ventures is hosting a new way to paint, featuring feet! The area will include buckets of water-based paint and lots of canvas. All kids need to do is dip their feet in paint and run wild! The zone will also feature a play dough station presented by Paint The Walls. Kiddos can mix their own recipe of play dough and bring it home for more fun!
• Creation Station – see your child’s imagination at work as they decorate paper hats, sash bags (with help from The Sash Bag gals) and color take-home, re-usable SWAG bags, sponsored by The Chloe Nichols Foundation. These bags are filled to the brim with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clown noses, bracelets, tattoos, the children’s book “The Friendship Fairy,” and much more! The Rock Church will also be hosting a news-room activity where children can interact with puppet news reporters. Also in the Creation Station, TakeLessons will be on hand showing aspiring musicians how to make their own take-home instruments.
• Green Thumb Market - sponsored by Honest Tea where kids can plant “hairy” grass jars and make wind-chimes with help from Crown Ace Hardware. They’ll also get an up close and hands-on education on creepy crawlers from Kruisin’ Kritters who will let kids interact with snakes, spiders and other creepy creatures. Counselors from Camp Stevens will be on hand to help kids create their very own t-shirt headbands.
• Build It Construction Zone – DIY With Pro Help will help kids craft Father’s Day art. Other activities include Lego engineering, constructing bug headbands complete with a mosquito stinger, and building picture frames out of popsicle sticks with help from Red Tricycle.
• Dress Up Bar – presented by Fairytale Fashionista where kids can dress up in royal make-believe to find their inner princess or super-hero, have their hair styled by Pigtails & Crewcuts and dance the day away to kid-friendly tunes by DJs from Xtreme Fun on the mega-dance floor sponsored by ENERGY 103.7
• Bubble Zone – where kids 4 and under can kick, bang, ram and bam hundreds of jumbo “gumballs” in the ball pit. Kids of all ages can learn to make bubble blowers out of recycled plastic bottles and pipe cleaners to create the most amazing and fun bubble trails.
• Snack Shack - presented by CLIF Kid, Pretzel Crisps - for young chefs (healthy treats are included in the price of admission)
• Food Truck Lunch Room - providing delicious treats for the whole family to enjoy. Food is available for purchase and not included in the cost of admission.
• Raise the Roof - a roof made out of 100,000 yards of colorful elastic sponsored by San Diego Family Magazine for those who want to have crazy, hands-on, tangled, twisted fun
• VIP Stroller Valet – complimentary parking for all

KidsFest San Diego 2014 Stage schedule is as follows:

Saturday, May 17
10:30 AM – Posture Pod Flying Exercises
11 AM - RCM Musical Performance
11:30 AM - Mrs. Smarty Plants - Water Conservation Extravaganza
12 NOON - Hullabaloo Concert
1:00 PM Mrs. Smarty Plants - Water Conservation Extravaganza
1:30 PM - Kruisin' Kritters - Hands on Animal Experience
2:00 PM - Ronald McDonald Visit and Show
2:30 PM - The Friendship Fairy Book Reading
3:00 PM - Thomas Blasts Off Book Reading

Sunday, May 18
10:30 AM – Posture Pod Flying Exercises
11:00 AM - How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Meet and Greet
11:30 AM - RCM Musical Performance
12 PM - Amazing Dana the Magician
12:30 PM - How to Train Your Dragon I2 - Meet and Greet
1:00 PM - Kruisin' Kritters - Hands on Animal Experience
1:30 PM -Thomas Blasts Off Book Reading
2:00 PM - Kruisin' Kritters - Hands on Animal Experience
2:30 PM – RCM Musical Performance
3:00 PM - Resonate - Youth Vocal Group

In addition to being a quality family event, KidsFest San Diego will be supporting charities that are committed to San Diego’s children and families. ALL net proceeds from KidsFest will benefit the Chloe Nichols Foundation, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit; these proceeds will help to further the Foundation’s mission of providing college scholarships for kids who demonstrate creativity and supporting various local children’s charities, including our 2014 partner: the Jenna Druck Center.

For more information and a full list of vendors, visit www.kidsfestsandiego.com.