We asked Tara Shuttleworth, one of the organizers of this year’s Wallingford Family Festival and Parade (née Kiddie Parade) how she thought it went, given the parade took a slightly different route and ended in a new location (Wallingford Playfield) this year. Here’s what she had to say:
For the first year at The Wallingford Playing Fields, the WNO was really happy with the turn out at the Wallingford Family Festival. We had over 30 craft and food vendors with music from N20, Casper Babypants as well as Zumba with Fresh Fitness and Dance Studios in Wallingford. Om Cultures Kids Gym was a huge success. We estimate about 800 people came to the Playing Fields to enjoy the day last Saturday.
Things we plan to change in the future would be location of vendors and Bouncy Castles as well as more signs letting participants know where the Wallingford Playing Field is at.
One participant commented that “Next year, it’d be nice if the bouncy houses were oriented in such a way as to minimize the heat on that plastic! My kid didn’t want to play on the bouncy houses due to the sun-factor.” We did not take into account the direction the sun would be in throughout the day and will plan on having the bouncy castles in a more shaded area next year.
We also want to make sure that all of our craft and food vendors get equal visibility for next year which is easy attainable with such a large space. Plan on seeing more signs next year with directions to the playfield.
Please let us know of any other constructive feedback you can think of Wallingford! We learned a lot from this year and look forward to creating a more interative family event next year. Stay Tuned!
Tara Shuttleworth
Event Coordinator and Owner of Babette’s Events
Do folks have other constructive suggestions you’d like to share?
(Photo from 2010 by Neil Parekh)
We sat on Wallingford across from Julia’s and when most performers make the turn from 45th, they just kept walking. It would be nice if they stopped and do another performance. There were a lot of people sitting on Wallingford Ave. to avoid the bigger crowd on 45th this year.
I really liked the new set up in Wallingford Park. The one suggestion would be to increase the number of bounce houses. It seems like there were far fewer than in previous years and the lines were very long. While I had purchased day passes for the kids in previous years (bracelets), it made no sense this year as the lines were too long and the offerings more slim.
Maybe I missed the rest, but while walking around I only saw 4 food vendors total in the park & two of those were donuts and shaved ice. There were also multiple ice cream & soda options along the parade route. For a midday parade, more legitimate food options whether it’s tents or food trucks would be very welcome.
I’ve been attending the kitty parade for the last decade and was sorely dissapointed in the lack of dancing by all the dance troops. Shure it flowed much quicker, but there just wasn’t the amount of dancing I expected. This is the primary reason that my family and I come.
This was the first time I was able to see the kiddie parade. The drill teams were fun, but I was disappointed not to see even one kiddie musical band, even if they were all playing kazoos or homemade instruments.
One tweak for next year: Please close 43rd between densmore and woodlawn, extending the current closure on 43rd between wallingford and densmore. The reason is that the drill teams line up to salute each other after performing, and then need to wait for pick up. This all naturally happens at the end of the parade route, which means they all lined up on 43rd between densmore and woodlawn. Since that stretch wasn’t closed to traffic there were some frustrated drivers and, more importantly, some young girls put at risk with frustrated drivers pushing them out of the way. Also, a main entrance to the park and festival is at 43rd and densmore, so people and drill teams and cars were all clogged up there. Here’s a map link:
http://goo.gl/maps/MV7X
I really liked having the parade end at Wallingford Park. That was a great change! Besides moving the bouncy houses to a shadier location, the only thing I would like to see in the future are more meal options. The lines for food were very, very long.
It would have been nice to see an entertainment line-up/schedule for the festival on the website somewhere, or even if you just made it available to Wallyhood so they could post it. I thought the new location was great. I also agree with other commenters that more real food (lunch) options other than dessert would be welcome.
It has been nearly a month since this fun festival, but the trash is still waiting for pickup along 43rd at the park. Probably an oversight, but can someone please complete the arrangements to haul away the trash and recycling? Birds and other critters make a mess because the bins are overflowing!