Each year, the Children’s Festival in Jacksonville draws out kids with all kinds of hands-on activities, performances to watch and fun-centered education, offering a hub for the young and young at heart to explore, create and learn. 

The festival is set up at the Britt Gardens and is organized by The Storytelling Guild, a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to providing opportunities for kids to experience the joys of reading. 

“The Children’s Festival is a volunteer-run celebration of childhood, literacy and creativity through 30 booths of arts and crafts at the Britt Gardens; nearly every booth suggests books to read in a “if you like this booth, read (this) to learn more’ poster,” said Heather Hoefling, the festival director. “This year’s theme is ‘Embrace the Wild.’”

This year marks the 59th annual Children’s Festival and will include plenty of things to do and see.

The festival is scheduled for three days, Saturday through Monday, July 12-14, at the Britt Gardens, located at 350 S. First St. in Jacksonville.

Admission costs $4 per person and will run from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 12; 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 13; and 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, July 14. 

“In one day at the Children’s Festival, you can create your own tie dye or silkscreen piece of art, make something in our carpentry booth, pan for ‘gold,’ learn Origami or make a leather key chain,” Hoefling said, adding, “we have a section geared toward the under-6 crowd where you can make a puppet, play with Play-Doh or make a sand painting and meet a queen and Mother Goose.” 

In the festival’s science booth, participants can go inside a bubble, watch how bees operate, explore plank engineering and play with magnetic tiles. 

Throughout the Children’s Festival, a variety of dancers, musicians and performers will entertain the crowd while sharing their art and culture on the Britt Stage. 

Some of those performers include Ballet Folklorico bringing Mexican folk dances; Sunstone Dance Company showcasing belly dancing with Rhythms East providing the backing music; Talent-based band Opal & The Swallowtails; a performance from the Southern Oregon Japanese Association; a live science demonstration from ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum of Ashland; and science-based bug education from Bugs-R-Us. 

“I love the Dance Party! At the end of every day, all kids, parents and volunteers are invited onto the Britt Stage to celebrate,” Hoefling said of her favorite part of the festival. “My other favorite thing is seeing the volunteers enjoy themselves as much as the kids and families that visit. Some of our volunteers came as kids and are now running booths themselves.”

“We even have multiple generations of volunteers all working together at the festival,” she added. 

While the longstanding litter- and recycling-eating dragon mascots — Rosabelle and Pebbles — and other aspects of the festival will be returning, there will be a new addition to check out as well. 

“The insightful founders created Fred’s Mystery Booth that changes every year, so there is always something new,” Hoefling said. “This year, guests will create an animal mask to match our theme in Fred’s Mystery Booth.”

“In addition, on Monday, we will be visited by Carl the Collector, a lovable character and star of his own show from SOPBS,” she added. 

The Children’s Festival will hit six decades of laughing, learning and cherished memories next year, and organizers have worked to keep the festival free of commercialization and advertising, and centered on the sense of wonder it brings.

“The longevity of this festival has provided the opportunity for thousands of people to have treasured memories of coming to the festival as children, parents and now, grandparents,” Hoefling said. “I am so proud of the Storytelling Guild and our volunteers that work all year to keep this summertime tradition going to promote reading and creativity.”

Festival organizers are always in need of more volunteers, and interested parties can sign up to volunteer at https://bit.ly/45LAaZg.

The Storytelling Guild’s work goes beyond just the festival, and volunteers are also needed for hosting story times at local preschools and book stores, “Book Fashion Shows” at local elementary schools and collecting and distributing books to organizations serving children.  

To learn more about the Storytelling Guild, its programs, the festival or to donate, visit storytellingguild.org. 

Reach reporter James Sloan at james.sloan@rv-times.com.