This past weekend, the Louie the Alligator (official mascot of the Blues, Brews, and BBQ festival) brought a luau and kid’s carnival to the Fluid Event Center in Champaign. In an attempt to further warm up the already pleasantly warm (for January) weekend, all sorts of activities were available for partygoers, from mini golf to laser tag. And, of course, all of the requisite inflatable activities were present as well- including a few new ones such as the boxing ring complete with tremendously oversized boxing gloves. Admission was $12 per child and, in a bit of a twist on the standard admission scheme for events, anyone 19 and over got in for free!
“We like to do something every month or every other month to keep people aware of Louie (the Alligator) and the blues festival,” said Mike Galloway, director of the Blues, Brews, and BBQ festival. “This is usually the time of the year where there’s not a lot for children to do, so we said why not have an winter indoor carnival for kids?” The luau kicked off right at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and even then there was already a sizable crowd of children running around, playing games, and altogether just plain enjoying themselves. Look below for some photos of the opening hours!
Below, Connect 4… life sized!
Below, everyone had a chance to color a table-sized mural.
Below, members of ZERO1 Pro Wrestling were on hand to make sure partygoers had fun… or else.
Below, boxing gloves are heavier than they look- especially when they’re as big as you are.
Below, Champaign Swarm.
Below, the line for facepainting was quite extensive.
Below, laser tag by Alpha Dog Entertainment ran non-stop games- and that was just fine with the kids!
Below, Louie and his superhero friends hope you all had as much fun as they did!
