Reflections on Kids' Fest / By Peggy Springer

The 2011 Tucson International Children’s Film Festival, or Kids Fest for short, began Saturday, July 23 with the Annie Sing-A-Long and ended Sunday, July 31 with Babe.  During those nine days of fun, movies, prizes, popcorn, kids, babies, grown-ups who came as parents, and grown-ups who came just to see the films, we saw many of the same faces just about each day, and some faces we saw everyday.  Thank you for coming to the movies with us.  See you next year!

to the little smiling girl dressed exactly like Annie (wig and freckles included) accompanied by her parents also dressed as characters from the film,

and to the dad and daughter who practiced singing all the songs in the car on

the way to the theater that first day,

to the boy who pumped his fist in the air with excitement when he learned he could

go find a seat in the theater as soon as he entered the lobby with his mom,

and to all of you who were waiting at the gate each morning before 9:15 am,

to the little girl who described in full detail what she was wearing the day before

after she asked me if I remembered her,

and to the happy eyes and eager hands waiting to get free books from Bookmans

on Thursday before the movie Holes,

to the many polite Pleases and Thank Yous for the tickets, popcorn, give-aways,

and raffle drawings,

and to those of you who made perfect paper airplanes to throw at Jeff onstage

before King Kong,

to the family who said they would have been there everyday except they were going

on vacation at the end of the week,

to the little girl who explained on the second-to-last day that she hadn’t been there

for a couple of days because her mom was having a C-section (“A C-SECTION!”),

to the young boy who oinked and wore his pig ears all throughout Babe,

and to the young man who thanked Jeff genuinely and eloquently for making this

festival accessible to anyone and everyone,

to the parade of youngsters who circled the lobby with their faces painted before

Who Framed Roger Rabbit led by the proud leader of the incredible Tiggies,

Kids Fest is for everyone but we do it for all of you.

Words by Peggy Springer, Administrative Assistant.

Photos by Steven Soloway, Office Manager.