November 16, 2005
Record Crowds attend 11 th Annual Children’s Festival
The Woodlands, TX – The 11 th Annual Children’s Festival drew a record number of festival goers. Held this past weekend at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, the first two days of the festival, Nov. 10 and 11, were devoted to school field trips. Approximately 4,500 students from schools in 11 districts, including numerous private schools, attended the festival during these two days. On Nov. 12 and 13, Children's Festival was open to the public and drew a record crowd – more than 14,500 attendees.
Record crowds attended performances of everyone’s favorite 4-year-old Caillou “Live on Stage,” the theatrical production of “There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom” based on the popular children’s novel,and the lovable Franklin the Turtle “Live in Concert,” on the Cooper Industries Main Stage . Local community groups displayed their talents on The Woodlands Town Center Community stage in the Wells Fargo AdventureZone, and the Texas Children’s HospitalHealthy KidZone Stage featured demonstrations by fitness expert Scott Cole, Houston Rockets Power Dancers and Launch Crew, Korean martial arts specialist Kook Sul Won, and World Class Rope Skippers.
Over the weekend, the festival featured Houston Community Newspapers Arts Alley where children learned about the elements and principles of art through creative, interactive activities. They learned about colors by creating color scratch art bookmarks; shapes by making leaf rubbings; patterns by making beaded bracelets; and balance by making woven placemats. Children were able to take home their imaginative creations.
The Waste Management Activity Tent featured fun, hands-on activities conducted by area organizations. Activities included weather experiments, bookmark art, dumpster fishing, make-and-take slime and more. The Texas Children’s HospitalHealthy KidZone featured activities including the Houston Texans’ Quarterback Toss, the Houston Rockets’ Pop-a-Shot, a moon walk, brain toss, and other fitness and nutrition-related activities. In the Wells Fargo AdventureZone , children rode a stage coach, sat on a Harley motorcycle, made one-of-a-kind hats, and were able to meet their favorite performers. Each day of the festival ended with the Festival Finale Kazoo-Dah Parade, sponsored by Target Stores, led by Sarah, one of Caillou’s favorite friends.
We applaud the following sponsors for making the 11 th Annual Children’s Festival possible: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Bowne of Houston, The Center for the Performing Arts at The Woodlands Board of Directors, Continental Airlines, Cooper Industries, FMC Technologies, Inc., GameStop, Harley Davidson of The Woodlands, The Houston Chronicle, Houston Community Newspapers, Houston PBS/KUHT, Ch. 8, Houston Public Radio/KUHF 88.7 FM, Hughes Christensen, JPMorgan Chase Private Client Services, Liberty Mutual, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital, Millennium Audi, The Pavilion P artners, Peoples Energy Production Company, Silver Rock Productions, Smith International, Target Stores, Texas Children's Hospital, Time Warner Cable, Waste Management, Inc., Wells Fargo, and The Woodlands Town Center. Other Festival supporters included American Legion Post 305 Texas, Calfee Specialties, Chick-fil-A, the Community Associations of The Woodlands Parks and Recreation, H-E-B, KB Toys, Papa John’s Pizza, The Pepsi Bottling Group, Sweet Tomatoes, Willie’s Restaurants, and The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.
