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Fun for all at this year’s All Kids Fair

The Island Now

The 9th annual All Kids Fair had record attendance of over 4,000 at its April 7 event at the Hilton Long Island/Huntington. In order to accommodate its huge crowd, the All Kids Fair expanded into the Savoy and Melville rooms in addition to the Grand Ballroom, pre-function (“Gateway”) area, and eight classrooms, bringing the mostly indoor event to “25,000 square feet of fun,” according to fair Director Barbara Kaplan.

The Savoy room featured The Butterfly Experience, a tent where attendees could pose with live multi-colored butterflies who were attracted to feeding sticks. Also in the Savoy room was a bounce house from Fun Rentals and Dina Love of Dina’s Dynamics, a speedy and talented face painter. In the Melville Room, a new feature was the Long Island Comic Book room, with cosplay, comic books, and various artists.

Attendee Geraldine Garcia of Riverhead summed up her experience. “It was our first time at the All Kids Fair and we all had a great time. Lots of information and activities for the kids to enjoy. They absolutely loved it. They went the next day to school and shared with everybody how much fun they had at the event.”

This year’s event included many exciting classes, including soccer, culinary arts, learn Spanish, Zumbini, princess party, yoga, book reading, arts and crafts, gifted, and the Songs for Seeds band playing children’s songs. Some of the classes were taught multiple times.

There were over 100 exhibitors, including camps, after school activities, kids’ products, and birthday party providers. Additional attractions this year included a second bounce house from Clowns.com, a petting zoo, a huge snake and other animals to touch plus face painters, balloon artists, and a photo booth. The Big Bounce Theory brought a kids’ arcade including claw machines.

Special guest visits by QuackerJack of the Long Island Ducks and Miss Long Island Teen 2019, Geanna Koulouris, rounded out the day.

Jennifer Trezza of Dr.STITCH enthusiastically said, “We look forward to participating in the All Kids Fair every year. It’s a great way for us to interact with not only children and their families, but also the other exhibitors who attend. Employees from our office love coming to the event with their kids and taking part in the long list of offered activities.”

At the charity drive to benefit The Book Fairies, a 501c3 that provides books to those in need, 450 books and $360 were collected.

Sponsors for this year’s All Kids Fair were: Long Island Parent Magazine, Your Local Kids Source, Clowns.com, Hulafrog, Blank Slate Media, Long Island Business News, PSEG LI, and 516Ads.com.

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