HaHaHa Kidzfest takes over Penticton's Gyro Park today through Saturday

The planning began in 2019, and the unveiling was initially scheduled for 2020. But like everything else it seems, HaHaHa Kidzfest, an arts and culture festival aimed primarily at children between the ages of two and 12, felt the wrath of COVID.

Ultimately, the 2020 edition was canceled completely, while the 2021 version was substantially scaled back and taken to schools and the King's Park parking lot as a drive-thru.

But event organizers knew the real deal -- the festival they'd originally envisioned, the giant-sized happening that would unfold over multiple days throughout the entirety of Gyro Park -- was going to be far diferent. And today through Saturday, they finally get the chance to prove it.

Debuting this morning and running daily to Saturday at 5 pm, HaHaHa Kidzfest takes over Gyro like few recent events have done. The action is spread all over the park, the big performances are reserved for the bandshell (and a heck of a sound system), and the place is expected to be busy.

"We're really excited to finally have our first time out," said festival spokesperson and Penticton resident Jacki Kliever Wednesday as tents were being pitched and structures assembled.

"After two years of hoping to run a full festival in the park, it's thrilling just to see it really happen. To have everybody come out of their isolation and just join together."

HaHaHa Kidzfest board chair Rachel Bland said the strength of the programming and quality of the performers will separate the festival from local alternatives.

"Kids don’t regularly get this level of programming here," she said of an event that looks far and wide for its entertainers and educators. Some will come from big population bases like Vancouver where only the strong survive.

"It's professional," she said. "It'll be a different standard for kids than when you go to a family festival like Peach Fest. We spent hours and hours just deciding what kids need this year. And we pick a theme. This year, our theme is 'Around the World in a Day.'"

According to Bland, the event is a reboot in some ways of the Okanagan International Children's Festival that ran in Penticton for 14 years before it encountered various issues and shut down after 2014.

"In 2019, Mayor Vassilaki reached out to Gord Oslund, who founded that festival," she said. "And he said he thought the community was missing that type of event.

"So Gord reached out to me and my husband (Bryce Munroe), because we worked at the previous festival and knew how to run it. And we work in the live entertainment industry."

A board was formed in 2019 for a festival that would begin in 2020. Then…COVID.

"We've based it loosely off the concept of the previous festival, but it’s a new board with new ideas," said Bland, acknowledging that it's also in the mold -- though far smaller of course -- of the mega-successful Vancouver International Children's Festival.

"We'll even have some of the same performers," said Bland.

Foremost among those performers is Circus West, a highly regarded "circus art" outfit from Vancouver. They'll perform Saturday only.

Other headliners include dance/drum act Ache Brasil Music and Dance Group (also out of Vancouver) and Juno-nominated children's singer-songwriter Ginalina.

"And then we have participatory activities that are put on by our community partners," said Bland. "Groups like the Penticton Art Gallery (global fashions), the Penticton Museum (with a mysterious offering called 'The Catapult'), the Penticton Library (language sketching) and the Penticton Arts Council (a colouring 'post card').

There's also a huge Indigenous village setup run in conjunction with the Penticton Indian Band education department that offers a variety of activities and games throughout the day, a "Tiny Town" for kids four and under, and last but certainly not least, storytelling for costumed kids inside a giant inflatable salmon.

Yes, really.

Admission is $8 each for all adults and children aged three and over. Kids under two are free. Food and beverages are available on site. No pets are allowed.

But here's the important thing to remember. Today and Friday the festival is hosting a bunch of schools from across the Okanagan. The place will theoretically be busy even before random folks come through the gate.

Saturday won’t have the schools, though it will allow any kid who's attended already to visit again, for free, if they still have their wristband.

It will also have a slightly upgraded lineup (and the only performances by Circus West, at noon and again at 4 pm). But it being Saturday, and with the Farmers Market right next door, there's likely to be crowds then as well.

But that's the way it is with festivals, right?

For more information, head to the HaHaHa Kidzfest website here.