Hundreds of children were invited to have fun at the Central Alberta Children's Festival.
The 19th edition of the annual event featured live entertainers, games and more for those in attendance, and was held on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at Rotary Park in Red Deer.
"This is about families coming to the park and engaging in all types of fun and entertainment," said Judy Scott, executive director of Family Services of Central Alberta, the catalyst of the festival.
"We started this festival 19 years ago because we saw families needed to spend some time together. It's a busy world where parents are working or going to (post-secondary). This festival is a low-cost opportunity for families to come together — once you pay at the gate, everything is free, which has worked very well for us."
The event has continued to bounce back from COVID-19, Scott noted.
"Pre-COVID, we were seeing around 6,000 people over two days. We started the festival small and slowly built it up, but COVID really changed things. In many ways, this is like a new festival starting over post-COVID," she said.
"Our attendance has increased each year since COVID. We had a really busy day on Friday (with about 1,200 people in attendance). We have lots of families in the park enjoying it."
The first day of the festival typically features many children attending through school field trips. There were nine schools who had field trips to this year's Central Alberta Children's Festival.
This year's entertainers included Juno Award nominee Mary Lambert, Penelope the Clown and Richard the Magician.
"There's just lots of fun stuff ... and it's great to have everybody out," said Scott.
"Next year is the 20th Central Alberta Children's Festival and we're looking to make it big. If anybody has ideas or wants to message us about the things they've enjoyed over the year, they can find us on social media."
For more information on the event, visit www.centralalbertachildrensfestival.ca.
