The smell of cotton candy, moon-bounce plastic and face paint fill the air. The season of carnivals and fairs is upon us with the kick-off of Uptown Kids’ first-anniversary carnival, to be held at the 5840 N. Classen Blvd. shop.
The outdoor carnival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Buy a wristband for $5 for access to all the fun and entertainment, including a petting zoo, balloon art and carnival food. Hosted by Uptown Kids, artist Desmond Mason and Prevent Blindness Oklahoma, the carnival will contribute proceeds to the nonprofit organization Prevent Blindness, which has provided vision screenings to children across the Sooner State for more than 40 years.
“It’s going to be a huge outside carnival,” said Ladonna Williams, a spokeswoman for the event. “It’s for a good cause, and it’s going to be a fun, inexpensive day for the kids and family.”
With the purchase of a wristband, attendees are eligible to meet former Oklahoma City Thunder basketball player Mason, and take part in a unique opportunity to paint with him during the “Blank Canvas” art event. But, get there early, because only 500 canvases are available for kids to exercise their creative flair; the resulting works will be auctioned on Sept. 22, also to benefit Prevent Blindness.
For more information, visit uptownkidsstyle.com. —Emily Summars
Photo by Shannon Cornman
This article appears in Aug 17-23, 2011.