Children always ask, “Why is there a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day but no Kid’s Day.” Well, in South Berwick there is now a Kid’s Day.
The first ever South Berwick Kids’ Festival will be held 11 to 4 pm Saturday, June 6, on Main Street in downtown South Berwick.
Kids and anyone they bring along will be invited to launch the festival with an all wheels parade down Main Street, led by Grand Marshall Vicki Stewart, Central School Principal. Participants can decorate and ride anything with wheels — lawnmowers, grocery carts, book carts, wheelbarrows, cribs, doll carriages, wagons, and yes, even bikes and trikes.
The day, uniting businesses and residents, will continue up and down Main Street inside stores and out on the sidewalks and lawns. It will feature music, dancing, ice cream, art, a toy auction run by and for kids and many other activities. Children are invited to bring Lego creations for a Lego contest, to stay for a free movie at Central School and to head to P. Gagnons for “touch a truck.” (“Children are encouraged to bring their Lego creations of all shapes and sizes to The Little Hat Company so that they can be on display at the P. Gagnon and Son lobby.)
The festival began as an idea a few women discussed over coffee and grew to include just about every group and organization in town. Powderhouse Ski Hill will be there, accompanied by Shawnee Peak Ski area from Bridgton. The Sarah Orne Jewett House will host a doll and teddy bear clinic. And the South Berwick Public Library has arranged for the state mascot, Baxter, to make a special appearance.
In addition, the Kiwanis will be giving out 100 free kids’ bike helmets and York Hospital will be giving away sports bottles. There will be 1000 paper cranes, art on the lawn, snow cones, smoothies, ice cream, popcorn and goodies galore.
Clubhouse Kids after-school program will help kids decorate flower pots, that will include a live plant. High school students have offered to do face painting.
“This is the way the Strawberry Festival started in 1976. The idea is to have a simple concept – a very special day for families to enjoy themselves without spending money.” Cynthia Gagnon.
“A group of us were thinking about how much we love this town, and what a great place it is to bring up children,” said Jennifer Houghton, owner of Little Hat Co. “So we just decided we wanted to have some kind of festival where we could both celebrate our town and have a great time with our children. And that’s how SBKD was born.”
The full schedule includes:
11:00 am – An Everything Wheels Parade
11:30 pm – Sammy Haynes in concert.
12:30 pm – All Kids Auction:)
11-2 pm – Lego Contest: Bring your lego creation for display and judging.
12:00 pm – Family Folk Dancing led by Kris Bisson
1:00 pm – Ryan T. Higgins reading and signing of Twaddleton’s Cheese, followed by Jane Cowen-Fletcher and original works
2:00pm Family Yoga presented by ChildLight Yoga
3:00 pm – Free Movie in Central School Gym
More information is available by contacting Kris Bisson at kristine_bisson@comcast.net.
