Activities
Grab your crowns, kids, because this year the Children’s Area will celebrate the High Kings of Ireland! The celebration will include all the kings - real and fictional - and will by placed in a Medieval setting. Of course, along with High Kings, we will celebrate High Princesses!
As I entered the world of the High Kings, the first person who greeted me (other than the fairies who brought me to this magical place) was Brian Boru. Now, Brian was not the first, nor the last High King of Ireland, but he greeted me with a grin. He boasted with a mighty grin, “I was chosen to greet you since I am the most remembered and famed King of Ireland.”
Brian said to let me take you on a tour of Tir na nƠg at the 2011 Irish Festival this year.
Guess N’ Tell Wishin Well
Guess the number of Magic Coins and win our wonderful magical dragon. Everyone plays, but must be under 13 to win!
Kansas City Irish Fest Bingo
Win prizes, come and play Kansas City Irish Fest Bingo. It is our original Bingo game, just for our Irish Fest guests. We play almost every hour, and prizes are always our famous “MOOLA”, so you can spend the money on anything from an Irish Walking Dog to a Stuffed Leprechaun or a Glow in the Dark Necklace. Join Us for a Game or Two.
Wackalaylee
What happens when you get a giant candy and toy filled crown? Lots of fun. Irish Fest will bring 18 Wackalaylees to our guests. Nine for the Youngest Guests (ages 2-6) and Nine for our Older Guests (7-12).
Kid’s on Parade
A newly crowned High King, Queen, Knight and Princess, which could be YOU, will lead a fun procession around the square at Crown Center on Saturday and Sunday. We will rock the Irish Fest grounds with our Regal group. Make sure you are there; join us on Saturday and Sunday at 5:45. The parade will start with the Costume contest and end with the parade. Maybe King Brian will show up and march with us?
Kids on Parade in 2009!
Kansas City Pumpkin Patch
Travel around the Festival Grounds and you will find all kinds of fun games and activities from KC Pumpkin Patch. And this year in keeping with our theme, KC Pumpkin Patch will be sponsoring our Regal Contest each day of the festival—the theme is High King, Queen, Knight and Princess! http://www.kcpumpkinpatch.com
Watch for sightings of King Brian.
Oddball Kids Tent
Come visit Oddball Kids, an interactive area which provides fantastic hands on activities to inspire YOUR child’s imagination! At KC Irish Fest 2011, we will have Construction!, Beads and More Beads!, Crazy Hats and Crowns, Bubbles, H2O Painting, and a special surprise chalk activity! You won’t want to leave!
Tattoo Me- I’m Irish
Julius Ceaser wrote an account in his memoirs of having gone to war with the Celts and the Celts having body art. For a very long time there has been a debate on the color of the body paint. Blue was the accepted color, but now the thinking is that the translation was incorrectly done, and the color was green, as Ireland.
Tacitus, Agricola 29 AD: ‘Already more than 30,000 men could be seen, and still they came flocking to the colours - all the young men, and famous warriors whose old age was fresh and green, every man wearing the decorations he had earned’
Think of facing 30,000 Celts, you being Ceaser with all 30,000 in green body paints. What a daunting sight. Now think of earning your own tattoo and facing all those formidable musicians at Irish Fest where you will dance the night away. Come and get a Tattoo. You want a preview?
Face Painters
Face Painters are special guests of the Children’s Area at Irish Fest. You can find them in a special area down in the Park, where with a little paint, a little sparkle and much talent, these artists can transform a gorgeous young lady into just about anything. Each painter is an artist with their own wonderful designs.
Artrageous
Our craft project this year includes creating shields and crowns! Everyone will be royalty by the time they leave Artrageous. http://www.artrageouskc.com
A shield would bear the design of the coat of arms of a family in the time of the High Kings of Ireland. A shield would protect you from swords in battle, but also keep your allies from attacking you. Plus, since you carry it with you always, it would be your display to the world of who you were. The design would tell others your family and the state to which you owe allegiance. One of the most important reasons for these was to let you know who your friends were and who your enemies were.
Because the Kings recognized the importance of the shields, they asked me to make sure all of the Kansas City royalty on the weekend of Labor Day has a shield. I wanted everyone to get a look at the design of the shield. That way, you all can put your thinking caps on for how you would like to decorate your sword at Irish Fest. Of course, since you are Irish Fest royalty, my friends included that on the design! We will have the shields available for coloring at Irish Fest. Then, carry your shield with pride. We are excited to see how you decorate yours!!!
Name our Cow
We want to introduce you all to our new cow for this year. She is gorgeous - makeup and all. You can tell she deserves to be a Royal Cow. I need you all to start putting your thinking caps on right now. As you all know, she relies on you to give her name. And, as Royalty, she needs a name worthy of a princess. She also is a lover of music and dance (in case you couldn’t tell from her photo). She will be happily dancing her time away until she gets that name. Maybe if you all listen to some rockin’ Irish music, the music will help inspire you for her name.
Name her and you name our Blog for the 2012 Irish Fest. You’ll also win her look-a-like as a 3 foot stuffed cow!
