Children’s Holiday At North To Take Place Dec. 11
Children’s Holiday at North is back for its 15th installation on Dec. 11, a year after COVID concerns shut down the community holiday celebration.
The event transforms North Campus, 11380 N.W. 27th Ave., into a winter wonderland that features mechanical rides, live performances, an obstacle course and a visit from Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
Most of the activities take place in the grassy area next to the 4000 building. In the past, the celebration has welcomed more than five thousand visitors.
“This goes beyond the regular festival where you just go and you pay for rides or you eat the food,” said Jaquelyn Muní, the social sciences chairperson and co-chair of the Children’s Holiday. “Here you actually connect to the campus and the people that work at the campus because the people that work on the campus are the ones who are serving our community members in each tent.”
Santa Claus is expected to arrive from the North Pole via a helicopter at North Campus at 10 a.m. He will be met by a holiday parade of cartoon characters, elves, toy soldiers and princesses. Then Santa and Mrs. Claus will join the festivities in a horse-drawn carriage.
Attendees will have an opportunity to take photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus will read books to children with her elves. Children can also visit Santa’s Workshop to write a letter to Santa.
“Parents want to be able to take their kids to something fun and wholesome. This is the best thing we can offer them,” said Jesenia Patino, North Campus’ administrative assistant and co-chair of the Children’s Holiday committee. “We just want to spread holiday cheer, especially now with COVID-19.”
There will be exhibits such as the Anime and Comic Book Expo for guests to interact with cosplay characters and play video games, the Lego Tent where kids will receive a box of legos and Elsie’s Greenshop where attendees can make slime, build molecule-inspired ornaments, plant herbs and try food made from liquid nitrogen.
Other favorites are the Princesses and Princes’ tent where children can meet and greet the characters and make crowns and wands. The Holidays Around the World exhibition highlights holiday customs from around the world.
To protect against the coronavirus, face painting will not be available this year. However, children will be provided masks that they can paint.
There will also be live performances on the stage in the 4000 building from the John A. Ferguson Pan Life Steel Drum Band at 10:30 a.m., Rainbow Park Elementary at 11:30 a.m., the Aloha Islanders at 12:30 p.m., Superstar Productions at 1:30 p.m. and Hip Hop Kidz at 2:30 p.m.
“I love the opportunity to see people sit around the stage and enjoy the entertainment,” Muní said. “To see the little eyes of kids when they see the Polynesian dancers or our multiple dancers for folklore and other types of music and the different cultures that are brought to this stage. To watch children mesmerized by something new is fascinating and fantastic.”
