BUCKHANNON – The Children’s Festival, hosted by the Stockert Youth & Community Center, will return in its entirety for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic Sept. 10.

SYCC director Debora Brockleman said the event was restructured as a drive-through event last year, but this year’s festival will be able to return to SYCC on East Main Street and the Public Safety Complex building for Truck Fest. The events will occur simultaneously from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at no cost to the participants.

“The event is a totally free day for children; we set up activities for the kids, they have a free lunch for the children and as far as parents are concerned, organizations, set up tables and booths with their information about their programs for the parents,” Brockleman said. “It could be someone with a nutritional program for children, it could be the health department and St. Joe’s usually sets up a booth and they promote healthy lifestyles or whatever their theme is for the month.”

There will be door prizes and a series of outdoor activities for children to enjoy.

“Sometimes we have a climbing wall, we usually have pizza and Zul’s for the kids, we might have karaoke, sometimes someone hands out backpacks and those kinds of things since it is back-to-school time,” Brockleman said. “We might have college groups coming, we might have face painting, we might be making slime or something like that. The Children’s Festival was created for a fun day for children and for families but gives parents activities they can do with their children, that don’t cost a lot of money and things that can be replicated at home.”

The Truck Fest will also give children a chance to interact with vehicles and equipment they may never be able to see otherwise.

“The city Street Department and those guys with the waste garage are the ones who make this happen; they contact people from local businesses and sometimes out of town, but they bring big pieces of equipment, like a truck a dozer, a fire truck, a police cruiser or a tank. It could be anything like a big truck or it could even be an ambulance,” Brockleman said.

“The kids can get up on them and try them out, sit in the passenger seat or the driver’s seat, it’s for children that love big pieces of equipment, whether it’s for construction or the trash truck,” she added.