The 14th Northern California International Children’s Play Festival, held on August 24 (last Saturday) at Cupertino Memorial Park in South Bay, Cupertino, was a grand event that attracted nearly 20,000 parents and children. They participated in this fun-filled event, leaving behind beautiful memories of togetherness.
The opening ceremony was attended by various dignitaries, including Lai Mingqi, Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, along with his wife Yun Wenzhen, Zhuang Yashu, Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Overseas Chinese Education Center, California Assemblyman Li Tianming, TCSA Chief Consultant Fu Hongyu, Cupertino elected officials, and numerous community leaders. TCSA, the organizer of the event, emphasized the values of family, creativity, and cultural exchange that the Children’s Play Festival brings to everyone.
This year’s theme “Taiwan MasterWork” showcased a wide range of activities with over 100 booths categorized into food area, international village, children’s play area, stage performance area, and volunteer team area. The children’s play area offered activities such as pony rides, petting zoo, mini train rides, inflatable bouncing castles, face painting, pinball machines, ring toss, goldfish scooping, table tennis, and beanbag toss, as well as a novel drone football match.
Volunteers responsible for the drone football match, Darren An and Anderson An, mentioned that the activity was a huge hit, with children eagerly lining up to participate. The enthusiasm of the kids surpassed the speed at which the drones could be recharged, with many children wanting to play multiple times and some even inquiring about purchasing their own drones.
Inside the volunteer team area, activities like “Underwater World” handicraft workshop for moms and interactive games brought by Tzu Chi North California, such as diabolo spinning and plate-turning, kept the children entertained. Ms. Tsai’s son was particularly interested in plate-turning and was engrossed in mastering the skill. She shared that the Children’s Play Festival was engaging, with many booths offering enriching activities that fostered joy and togetherness among the kids, promoting developmental growth without relying on electronic devices.
Ms. Chen and her 3-year-old son were creatively crafting “Underwater World” with colorful pearls. It was her first time participating in the festival and she found the activities diverse and enjoyable. The freedom for children to unleash their creativity in projects like “Underwater World” resulted in beautiful artwork, making her determined to attend the festival annually.
Mrs. Wang and her son joined the paper cutting activity for the first time. She found the event meaningful after exploring a few booths at the entrance, believing that such activities broaden children’s horizons, enhance skills, and provide opportunities to interact with diverse people and society, fostering courage among children.
The festival also featured exhibition booths from various countries in the International Village, including the USA, Iran, Japan, Azerbaijan, France, Israel, Sweden, Uzbekistan, India, Cambodia, and Laos, showcasing unique cultural representations. Alex representing France shared their success with a clay modeling workshop that received overwhelming attention from parents and children. The activity allowed children to sculpt clay into croissants, fruits, and vegetables, coloring them personally. The interactive workshop was popular among children and parents, fostering a productive and creative bonding experience.
Throughout the event, the stage showcased a variety of cultural performances such as Japanese street dance, Chinese martial arts, Azerbaijani dance, Danish song performance, Native American square dance, Vietnamese dance, Korean traditional dance, Indian dance, and Taiwanese indigenous dance, providing a diverse cultural feast for the audience. And of course, no grand event is complete without delicious food. The food area featured traditional Taiwanese delicacies like cotton candy, shaved ice, red bean cakes, crispy chicken, cold noodles, and bubble tea, along with French crepes and Filipino dishes, catering to everyone’s taste buds.