The Kid A’Riffic Fun in the Park program was a huge success this year thanks to the contributions of many City departments, community partners and media sponsors.

An average of 300 children attended each of the eight events, held Wednesdays in June and July from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a different City park (with World's Fair Park appearing on the schedule twice). 
 
Kid A’Riffic's goal is to provide opportunities for arts and crafts in addition to other activities for kids ages 2-10.

When it was founded in 2019, Kid A’Riffic was designed to help get families downtown to Market Square to see areas of downtown they would not normally visit in July. This year, Kid A’Riffic’s goal was even more ambitious.

Every week on Wednesday from 10am-1pm it moves to a different park and allows families to visit parks that in some cases they did not even know exist. The parks that Kid A’Riffic came to include Suttree Landing Park, Victor Ashe Park, World’s Fair Park, Lakeshore Park, Ashley Nicole Dream Playground, Holston River Park, Tyson Park, and West Hills Park.



Many City departments and community organizations came out to provide their educational and fun opportunities for the kids and adults. The entities that made appearances include but are not limited to KORE, KPD, the City, KAT, Knox County Public Library, Friends of the Knox County Public Library, Muse Knoxville, Zoo Knoxville, Keep Knoxville Beautiful, Home Depot, Knoxville Arts and Crafts Center, Knoxville Ice Bears, and even radio station B97.5.

The library and KPD brought books for the kids so they could expand their personal library and increase literacy. KAT, Keep Knoxville Beautiful, and Zoo Knoxville all brought visual resources to help educate attendees about their organizations.



KORE and Muse Knoxville also brought fun activities and games for the kids.  One of the favorites each week was the crafts provided by Home Depot.

Nothing could match the smiles on the kids’ faces after they were able to take home their very own craft each week. Well, maybe one thing could: free ice cream provided by B97.5. The lines stretched all the way to the tents as some of the kids patiently waited while others played with bubbles provided by the City.



But the favorite part for those running the tents was seeing familiar faces return each week because it proved that the program’s goal was working.

Overall, the program was a huge success. In fact, so many people attended it that the event scheduled for Adair Park was moved to Tyson Park because it had more parking availability. Not even the weather stopped the fun as the rain that came a few times was not enough to call for a delay. Positively, the highlight of the program was when people who did not even know the program existed walked through. As they walked by, they would see the crowd of people and went to see what it was all about, and those people became regular attendees because they loved it too.

Special thanks to the Office of Special Events' Kyndra Brewer, Elaine Frank and Rachel White for hosting Kid A’Riffic and the Public Service Department for setting up and taking down each event.