Thanks from the Promoter!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support the 2nd Annual Austin Kids Day! I managed to speak to a majority of people first hand and everyone seemed to really enjoy the event, especially the air-conditioning venue! For those of you who know, this past Saturday could very well end up being the hottest day of 2008 on record- at least that's what I heard through the grapevine! But not even the heat could keep over 700 people from getting down at Austin Kids Day to great musical performances by Joe McDermott& The Smart Little Creatures, Aunty E & The Friends, & The Biscuit Brothers!

So thanks to everyone, including the local vendors who faced the heat to bring nice chilled products like Maui Wowi Smoothies, Vitamin Water, Genesis Boost (those things kept me going strong!), Out There Cooking & El Arroyo, Bonzo Crunch & Mystical Magical Michael for their wonderful entertainment, Games2U for their awesome video game theater, Epiphone for providing such a cool backline for the bands to play, DRUMZ for providing the cool world music workshop and instrument petting zoo, Beary Cute Stuffables for their courageous employees who dressed up in the bear costume, Austin Kids Directory & Baby Scoop Austin for their wonderful knowledge of local businesses & always providing happy helping hands, Bright Horizons for their great staff and charitable donations, Saturn for letting everyone hang out in their cool cars, Lauren Portrait Art & JBell Photography for taking such cool photos (which I'm still waiting to see by the way and when I do I will post them for everyone to see!) , 1379 for lending a helping hand and bringing out such cool kids athletic wear, Premier Parking for helping all the patrons find their 'spot', Sock-Hop for the great bouncy houses, Tunes4Me for providing the cool CD's and face painting, KIWI the Clown for providing the great balloon design & face painting, our wonderful sponsors who helped make this whole thing possible- Longhorn Kids Club, Bechtol Golf Designs, UT Golf Club, Steiner Ranch, Stratus, Rogers O'Brien, Bright Horizons, Endeavor, Lincoln Property Company, The Kucera Companies, Audio Visuals, Heritage Title, & The Capital Area Food Bank...and last but not least- The Riverbend Center- you have the best staff of any venue in Austin and you made everything possible, from the wonderful facilities, to the friendly and hard-working staff, to the great volunteers- top notch from bottom to top; and especially thanks to Sharon Dillard, whom without none of this would have been possible! Also, to all of the wonderful volunteers, thank you so much, you are awesome, hard-working, and dedicated and that is so hard to find so I really appreciate all that you did! Thanks.

Thanks again to all the kids and families who came out, and especially to all of you who dressed up for the contest, it was so much fun and ALL of you looked amazing! Stay tuned for news on next year's Austin Kids Day!!!!

There will NOT be an ATM on site

Unfortunately we could not work out a deal to get an ATM on-site so please plan accordingly. We do apologize, but it is out of our control. Thanks for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Nurse Station Announcement...

OK, it's gonna be a heater of a day and just because we will have misting fans, tents, air-conditioning, free vitamin water, ice cream, and just about everything else to cool you down DOESN'T mean that no one will overheat. In the event that you overheat, please head directly inside to the EAST side of the Riverbend Centre to the nurses station where there is plenty of free cold water, cots to lay down on, chairs, and a relaxing environment. There is even a TV so you can watch the show inside! Make sure to thank the nurses and all volunteers for helping out!

A lot of people are asking....

What DO I get for my money? For a general admission ticket at $12.50, everyone who is able gets to hear and see 3 award winning bands in a state-of-the-art theater, access to free parking, a free video game arcade access (We ALL know how quick any kid can go through a roll of quarters at $10 a pop), free event merchandise like posters, beach balls, & temporary tattoos, free vitamin water while it last, unlimited trips in the bouncy house, sports castle, and inflatable basketball hoops, chances to win prizes & play games like Hula-Hoop, Limbo, meet new friends and interact with other kids, cool magician shows, clown shows, an opportunity to play musical instruments in a setting built specifically for kids, opportunity to dress-up like a rockstar or fairytale princess where the first place winner gets a full day at La Diz Spa (a day spa for kids) and have fun, and so much more - add it up it's pennies on the dollar, think about the big picture and it's priceless!

Don't want to deal with the hustle and bustle of GA seating, claim your own spot in the reserved section and get closer to the action for $24.50.

Want to bump it up and have a great time? For $39 you get everything above AND cool laminated AKD backstage passes where you can meet & hang out with your favorite artists & see how things work behind the scenes, access to VIP parking, the best seats in the house, and free AKD goodies like posters & t-shirts! Yeah, it's not for everyone but it is available to everyone!

Unfortunately do to ticketing policy and NOT Austin Kids Day- we cannot offer free lap tickets to parents with little ones but what we can offer is a GA ticket for ANY section for your child 2 and under!

I also heard a rumor that there will be goody bags being handed out full of cool surprises!

So no matter which way you look at it, at Austin Kids Day every kid hopefully leaves feeling special, has met new friends, has had an all-inclusive experience, has learned something cool, has been inspired, has seen some fantastic music, gotten some cool merch and free goodies, maybe got a face-painting or crazy balloon design, saw a cool magic show, jumped around in a bouncy house, laughed, cried, pooped & peed!

Get ready to go Bonzo!

News from the Promoter...

So people ask me everything you can imagine about Austin Kids Day, and all of the answers I provide are based on one consistent origin, and that is my love and passion for music and the experiences that festivals bring with that. I want to provide an atmosphere for families to enjoy everything from live music to good food and entertainment.

Festivals that are based on good vibes and positive creation create overwhelming experiences for the people who attend them, and anyone who lives in Austin knows about good music... and you've probably traveled a long distance to see some of your favorite bands over the years. Maybe you met your wife or became best friends with someone you never would have otherwise known. Now imagine getting to do that when your 2! That's why there's Austin Kids Day- it's for any "kid" ages 2 to 102! It's YOUR day, so come out and be a kid!

Have you ever been at a festival in the summer and just thought, "Man! I would give anything for a nice padded chair and some good 'ole air conditioning!" Well, if you've ever been to a festival in Texas in the summer then you've definitely said that before! Luckily for you we already thought ahead and at Austin Kids Day you get to go indoors for the main acts! You will get to see 3 awesome performances in the nice air-conditioned theater at the immaculate Riverbend Centre! And folks, if you haven't been here before you are in for a treat! It is gonna be awesome! Another great thing about having the show indoors is that the artists get to pull out all the props and fun surprises so you won't catch a show like any other seen before at Austin Kids Day! And when you are outside, don't worry bout the heat down at Shady Grove, I hear there are misting fans over there...

Everyone's invited and bring a friend, so come do it all- bring 10 cans to donate to the Kids Cafe and get a cool Austin Kids Day Poster, enter the rockstar & fairytale princess dress-up contest, enter the Guitar Hero Tournament for your chance to win your own private Video Game Theater Party brought to you by Games2U, check out great Austin live music by Joe McDermott & The Little Creatures, Austin's very own Rockstar Princess- Aunty E & The Friends, and The Biscuit Brothers. Don't worry about coming hungry because El Arroyo & Out There Cooking are gonna be serving up breakfast & lunch all day and get your health fix on at Maui Wowi & Genesis Boost! Oh yeah, and I can't forget about the parents- come chill out on the deck in the shade, get some great food, go shopping- it's OK cause its Saturday AND its YOUR Day, you won't want to pass up the local vendors, arts, crafts, apparel, and more! Sounds like fun, I'm in! The count-down begins...will you attend? Better buy your tickets now...

Official Announcement: New Festival Map & Schedule!

Check out the new updates on the schedule & festival map!