PBS Kids in the Park shatters attendance records
Economy-minded children and their adult hosts showed up in record numbers at the free 2009 WFYI Let’s Meet PBS Kids in the Park festival Saturday, June 27, in downtown Indianapolis.
An estimated 50,000 kids and their families and friends delighted to more than a dozen PBS Kids characters, including Clifford the Big Red Dog, Word Girl, Sid the Science Kid and Snook, simultaneously cleaning up with favorite PBS giveaways, playing with Hula Hoops and jumping through three huge inflatable moon walk playgrounds.
Two sound stages featured national PBS celebrities such as Miss Rosa (Jennifer Pena), the newest host of PBS Kids, who often takes time during her on-screen appearances to teach kids a little about the language and culture of Spanish-speaking peoples, and Alec Colchico of the PBS program A Place of Our Own – a program designed to highlight educational needs of child care providers around the country.
Sponsored in part by Marsh Supermarkets and Indy’s Riley Hospital for Children, the six-hour event also featured more than 40 tents with a blend of entertaining and engaging educational activities provided by Central Indiana's leading arts and service organizations.
Now in its 16th year, Let’s Meet PBS Kids in the Park is by far the largest local PBS childrens’ event of its kind in the United States. Event sponsor WFYI Channel 20 TV/90.1 radio is the largest public broadcasting station in Indiana.
- by Jim Brown , Indianapolis Reporter for HelloMetro
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Jim Brown Jim Brown is a longtime freelance aviation, travel and destination writer and communications professional. A former reporter for Aviation Daily, Air Safety Week and World Airline News, Jim served for more than 15 years as a senior public relations executive for American Airlines, TWA and AirTran Airways.
