THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 5, 1995 TAG: 9510030080
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Families looking for a fresh dose of fun and entertainment will find it at the Virginia Children's Festival, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Town Point Park.
For kids as well as the young-at-heart, the annual festival will offer a chance to sample some 200 interactive activities, educational displays, workshops, games and performances by nationally known children's entertainers.
Throughout the day, kids can share milk and cookies with Sesame Street's Cookie Monster. They can watch Tuey the Tightrope Walker perform gravity-defying feats or listen to Lamb Chop sing ``The Song That Never Ends.'' They can shake a leg on the dance floor with Elmo, Ren and Stimpy, Raggedy Ann and Andy, WC Duck and Peter Rabbit. They can learn about rain forests, play Candy Land on a life-sized game board, traverse a work-zone obstacle course, make their own candles and churn their own butter. They'll even have a chance to become knighted with Prince Charming and Cinderella.
Budding scientists will find hands-on magnetic levitation car races, computer graphics and space experiments. Future oceanographers can see and touch live marine animals from the Chesapeake Bay. And young artists get an opportunity to create origami masterpieces.
During the day, storytellers will spin yarns, police officers will operate bicycle obstacle courses, farmers will shear sheep and members of the Virginia Opera Company will perform ``Hansel and Gretel.''
Never mind the kids. Even the parents won't be bored during this jampacked day.
Amid all of the fun, hundreds of pint-sized marchers will join the festival's entertainers, costumed characters and a bevy of giant inflatable balloons for a 1 p.m. parade down Waterside Drive past the park. Anyone interested in participating should call 441-2345 for an application.
Throughout the day, plenty of food and beverages will be available for even the most finicky eaters at a food pavilion sponsored by Food Services, Norfolk Public Schools and the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters.
To take care of any mishaps, volunteers from the DePaul Medical Center School of Professional Nursing will be on hand with bandages and kind words at a centrally located Boo-Boo Tent. And the La Leche League and Kimberly Clarke have erected comfort stations throughout the park for parents needing to make diaper changes or those who might need a rest.
Winners of the ``Pride in Virginia'' essay contest for area third- and fourth-graders will be announced at the festivities, and Gary Peede, a first-grader at Lindenwood Elementary School in Norfolk, will be recognized for his prize-winning festival poster.
Families who want to get an early start on the fun can attend a special breakfast with cartoon festival friends from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Town Point Club across the street from the park that morning. Kids are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite characters while partaking of Pocahontas Pancakes, Mickey Mouse Muffins, scrambled eggs, bacon and beverages. Admission is $10.
Organizers will use the funds from the breakfast and the festival to establish several scholarships for area preschoolers.
Selected as one of the Southeast Tourism Society's Top 20 Events for 1995, the festival is produced by Norfolk Festevents and sponsored by about 30 area businesses.
This year's honorary chairperson is Regina Marscheider, producer/director of the Emmy Award-winning Spectrum Puppets. by CNB