Such was the case for the Moose Jaw Shrine Club’s annual Children’s Festival on Saturday at the Western Development Museum, as hundreds of youngsters and their families took advantage of the near perfect weather to take in the activities.
And oh, the activities. From kite-building to ambulance tours to llama petting to facepainting to bouncy castles and even free admission to the museum, there was plenty to see and do at the event.
“It was a really good day, we had a lot of little kids this year, two years old and up,” said event organizer and local Shrine Club member Bill Johnstone. “We had a few bigger kids, but it didn’t matter as long as they had fun and the parents were glad they were there. So that was really good.”
One of the most popular stops was the kite-building and flying station, which saw a steady stream youngsters putting together their own airborne devices.
“The kite flying was new for us this year and there were lots of kids who learned how to build and fly a kite,” Johnstone said. “They had a lot of fun building them and learning how to get them up in the air.”
Then there was the petting zoo, with a remarkable menagerie of animals from Old McDale’s Friendly Farm, including the aforementioned llama, as well as a special fenced-in bunny rabbit area that youngers were able to enter to pet the critters.
“The petting zoo was a real success, they had a lot of interesting animals there and the kids had a lot of fun there,” Johnstone said.
So much fun that many parents went out of their way to make a donation at the event, even though the whole day was free due to an impressive cadre of sponsors backing the many activities on hand.
“It was amazing how many people came through and wanted to make a donation because there wasn’t a charge for anything,” Johnstone said. “We really appreciate that, since money was a little tighter this year and every little bit helps.”
The Festival came into being a few years back as an event to replace the legendary Shrine Circus, which shut down due to concerns transporting animals across the border as well as the ongoing protests surrounding animal circuses in general.
While that event is missed, the Festival has become a popular show in its own right.
“It’s working well for us,” Johnstone said. “The only thing we’re missing is the grandparents, they used to like coming to the circus with their grandkids and they really enjoyed the show. So they don’t come as much when the name is the ‘Children’s Festival’.
“But we’ll try and promote that, too, and maybe it’ll be bigger and better next year.”
