KidFest will be up and running again this August.
After a period of uncertainty, KidFest organizers have announced the annual event will go ahead Sunday, Aug. 12, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Parksville Community Park.
RELATED: Parksville KidFest on verge of being cancelled
Heather Mahony, chair of the Oceanside KidFest Society, said after a second meeting was held to recruit volunteers Feb. 21, another five people volunteered for the committee, bringing the total number of volunteers to eight or nine people.
She said those people didn’t want to see KidFest end. “They didn’t realize the effort and work goes into planning it. It’s just there,” Mahony said.
She said the committee is still in search of a site co-ordinator and someone who is willing to run as chair — Mahony is currently the committee chair — but she said she’s still able to stay on if need be.
The site co-ordinator, Mahony said, would work with the City of Parksville before the event as well as book porta-potties and generators for field activities. “They’re the first ones down there (on event day) and the last to leave.”
The committee’s next meeting is Monday, March 12, at 7 p.m. at the Quality Resort Bayside (240 Dogwood St., Parksville).
For the day of the event, she said, the society usually has about 20 volunteers who work in one-hour shifts. Mahony said it gives the volunteers time to enjoy the event, but some people do chose to volunteer for longer shifts during KidFest. She said some people have already volunteered to help on the day of the 2018 KidFest. Mahony said since the announcement that KidFest might might be at risk of cancellation, the response from the community has been “fantastic.”
“It brings back that community spirit and it shows that they enjoy this event,” she added. “They want it to keep running and they care that it keeps running.”
For more information on KidFest, visit www.kidfest.ca or www.facebook.com/KidFest. To get in contact with the KidFest committee, people can email info@kidfest.ca.