KIDS SAY “YES” TO OLD-FASHIONED FUN AT THE KUTZTOWN FESTIVAL

More Information: Dave Fooks, 610-683-1537
e-mail fooks@kutztown.edu

Oh, how much fun there is in real, live entertainment – the kind that doesn't bounce at you from a computer screen!

No high tech games here, but kids coming to the Kutztown Festival, June 30 – July 8 at the Kutztown Fairgrounds, still find all of the interactive fun that they want. And along the way they discover some things that are a hundred years old but often are totally new to them.

“We have play and entertainment areas that the younger set really enjoys. Parents tell us that they appreciate the fact that children actually participate in so many of the activities. And while they are having fun, there is a lot of learning going on because along the way they are encountering history and time-honored customs ” says Festival Executive Director Dave Fooks.

Kids are enchanted with traditional children's folk songs by the musical duo “Echoing Heart” and are then invited up to the stage to try their hand at playing melodies on some of the folk music instruments. Even more, they can actually learn to make simple instruments. Musicians in “The Acoustic Roadshow” teach kids and adults how to play a song on the guitar.

Sing-alongs led by Karen Terry Ludwig involve all of the youngsters (and oldsters too), and Ed and Brenda Hanna's puppet barnyard theatre gets kids caught up in the lively goings on around Farmer Brown's barn. Kids hoot and cheer while they try to help Farmer Brown find a missing barnyard animal.

Of course there are plenty of live barnyard critters at the Festival, too. The children's petting zoo is a favorite spot for kids to see, touch, and feed cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, rabbits, and turkeys. Then boys and girls can saddle up for pony rides just outside of the petting zoo.

Definitely bring your cameras as your kids experience a moment in time on the hundred-year-old “flying swing” – a mule-drawn carousel that is the only one

of its kind in America . At the turn of the 20 th century the “flying swing” was the big hit for kids at country fairs. Today this gentle, old-fashioned ride is equally popular with children at the festival.

Make and take crafts and Pennsylvania Dutch games have been enjoyed for generations by children at the Festival. The HexExpress, a unique train made of 55-gallon oil drums, takes its young passengers for rides on a trail of twists and turns. Der Korn Box (the Pennsylvania Dutch equivalent of a sand box – this one is filled with corn kernels instead!) and the hay maze are among the other favorites.

School is out for the summer, but in at the festival. When they hear the clang of the bell, children and adults can go back in time to learning in a replica of a 19 th century one-room school house.

After all of this fun, kids get hungry and they look for their own favorite foods – hot dogs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for example. Kinner Eck (Children's Corner) is where they are sure to find what they like to eat – kids' size portions and kid size prices, too.

And who can resist a cone or dish of delicious, fresh-made ice cream on a summer day? Kids see the ingredients of real ice cream churned the old-fashioned way (by foot peddling – kids are invited to take a turn at this) and then enjoy a treat in their favorite flavor. What a way for kids to end a great day at the Kutztown Festival!

Now in its 58th year, the Kutztown Festival features a wide variety of good family fun. In addition to lots of Pennsylvania Dutch food, there are numerous folklife presentations; 220 nationally-recognized, juried folk artists and traditional American craftsmen; nearly 2,500 locally hand-made quilts on display and for sale; antiques and collectables, 6 stages of entertainment, music, dancing.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission for adults is $12, seniors $11. Children 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by adults. There is ample free parking and free shuttle service is offered from the Festival parking areas to the fairgrounds. For a free brochure, please call 1-888-674-6136 or 610-683-1597. Visit the Festival website at http://www.kutztownfestival.com

Editors: for a photo CD with reproducible pictures of children at the festival, please request “Children's CD” on the postage paid media request card.