Musikfest is for Kids and Families Too

Kids are not an afterthought at Musikfest. Music, activites and events targeted at entertaining children and families are an integral part of Musikfest with cool crafts and treasure hunts as well as street and stage performers dedicated to family entertainment.

“For families looking for an affordable day out, Musikfest is really a great option with all the free music and free activities,” said Mark Demko, Assistant Director of Editorial Services at Artsquest. 

Most of the kids activities will be at either the Fowler and Pena Banana Island or Main Street location although there are no areas where kids are not welcome or that aren’t kid-friendly. 

Banana Island is labeled “Kid-tastic Fun” by Artsquest and it seems to live up to that expectation. 

The Cool Crafts tent is open from 5 – 8 p.m. today and from noon – 8 p.m. for the duration of the festival.

“At the creativity tent, each day we have a theme for the day.” said Courtney Novotnak, Children’s Event Coordinator. “Friday is a Safari theme, Saturday is Rock Star and Sunday is Under the Sea.” The tent will be loaded with materials from Crayola.

Every day there are different performers at Banana Island from noon – 11 p.m. but, the performances geared specifically for the small children will occur before 5 p.m.  

On Saturday Alistair Moock and the Rowdy Roots kick off at noon – 1 p.m. and again from 3 – 4 p.m. Steve Pullara and His Cool Beans Band offer folk music Saturday 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

On Sunday, Erin Lee and the Up Past Bedtime Band starts at noon – 1 p.m. and again from 3 – 4 p.m. “The Cat’s Pajamas is a really fun band that always gets the kids up and dancing,” said Demko. They perform on Sunday 1:30 – 2:30 and again from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

For more interactive fun, kids can dress up like astronauts, ballerinas, doctors and more at PNC’s Mobile Learning Adventure Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m. Kids will also want to ride the Whisper Carts or Climb the Rock Wall among other amusement rides at Banana Island.

Of course, if you take the kids to the festival you are going to have to feed them. There is food up and down every street of Musikfest with over 50 vendors but, Banana Island has kid favorites — mac and cheese, cheeseburgers, chicken fingers and peanut butter and jelly.

“Food and beverages help to offset the cost of presenting all the art and music at the festival,” said Demko. “There are a lot of great options starting at a few dollars.”

Explore the rest of the festival and what better way to explore it than on the P’s and Q’s Treasure Hunt. Keep an eye out for treasure hunt signs with musical instruments at Banana Island, Tropical, Festplatz, Handwerkplatz and Volksplatz. Get your treasure hunt card punched at each of the five locations and then redeem the card at Banana Island for a cool prize and entry into a drawing.  

“At the end of musikfest, we’ll pick four grand prize winners for a class or camp at the Banana Factory,” said Novotnak.

Main Street is just a short walk up the hill from Banana Island and, as always it will be bustling with street performers and vendors from one end of the street to the other. 

Chris Ruggerio is a one man variety show, a juggling, sword-swallowing, unicycle-riding magician. “He draws big crowds on Main Street,” said Demko, “He is quite the entertainer.” He will be performing on Saturday and Sunday from 2 – 10 p.m.

During the same time, the Zany Umbrella Band Circus will be performing puppetry, street theatre, storytelling and music. You can’t miss them they will be in outrageous and colorful outfits straight out of the center ring of the Big Top

Finally, you won’t be able to miss their colorful entourage, MarchFourth Marching Band strutting around the North side venues on Saturday at 5 p.m. “An awesome contemporary marching band” said Demko. “The audience is overwhelmed and in awe by them.”  

Family fun is around every corner this weekend at Musikfest and this is only the first weekend. Bring the kids for free crafts, free music and affordable fun as they explore all that the festival has to offer.