Kidabaloo 2017 Attracts Over 900 People

Kidabaloo 2017 was a massive success, with over 900 people attending the three-hour event at the Ag Building on the Missouri State fairgrounds on Saturday, April 29.

In spite of, or maybe because of the extremely soggy weekend, attendance
was more than organizers had hoped for. KIX-105 Radio Personality Derrick
Gill seemed very pleased with the turnout for the kid-friendly event, which was sponsored by State Farm Agent Bryan Jenkins, Just Get In Entertainment, and Baker Legal Services.

"It was about twice as big as usual. Definitely a lot of fun and a lot of
thanks to everybody coming out," Gill said, adding that there were about
30-35 vendors with around 20-25 activities for kids.

The rainy weather was an unknown factor for the third annual event, but
ultimately worked in Kidabaloo's favor. "We didn't really know what was
going to happen when it started raining cats & dogs right before we opened
the doors. But I guess nothing else was really going on, so they came out
here. We had a lot of great feedback from everybody," Gill said.

Part of the admissions from the event went to Relay For Life, he noted.

A list of activities for the kids included:

Bounce Boxing
Bounce House with a slide
Inflatable Baseball
Little Kids Inflatable Basketball
Basketball Shoot
Big Slide
Joust Arena
Games with Relay for Life Teams
Face Painting with Brenda White
Laser Deer Hunting Game sponsored by Stone Laser Imaging
Duck Butt Golf
National Wild Turkey Federation Inflatable Kids Shooting Range
Custom Stuffed Animals for the first 50 kids from Bryan Jenkins
Free T-Shirts for the first 100 kids
Boy Scouts Fundraiser Concession Stand
Benefit for Rely for Life Through the Rely Recess Program
Spider-Man
Micky and Minnie Mouse
Chase from Paw Patrol

"It was fantastic," exclaimed Sam Schleicher, who attended with Kidabaloo
with his family, including his daughter Zoe who said she enjoyed going
down the giant inflatable slide and wasn't scared at all.

"It was a great turnout with a ton of stuff to do. Our kiddo had a blast,
and as soon as she walked in the door, her eyes lit up and we've been
running around ever since," said Schleicher, who noted this was his first
Kidabaloo, but certainly not his last. "I'd recommend it to anyone with
kids."

One local vendor we talked to said she was very pleased with the turnout
at Kidabloo 2017. "I think it's absolutely awesome, there's so many people
out here, everybody's having a good time. Even though the weather isn't
participating, it's still bringing everyone out, giving the kids something
to do on a rainy afternoon," said Linda Noble of Sedalia, who along with
her husband Scott ran their booth for Tastefully Simple, Inc. at their
first Kidabaloo.

"It's good entertainment for the whole family," Noble added. "I look
forward to attending again. I've met a lot of new customers out here, and
I've caught up with a lot of old friends."

This was the first Kidabaloo for Faith Davis with Mary Kay Cosmetics, and she was so happy with the turnout, she was ready to sign up early for next year's event.

"I'm actually really liking it, I've gotten a lot of foot traffic, and the kids really like candy," she said. Her booth was positioned across from one of the bouncy houses, which was a good location for her.

Zara Hoover brought her husband and their two little girls to Kidabaloo 2017. "They really enjoyed walking around and meeting the characters, so we'll be back next year. We got to see Minnie and Chase. We did one of the bounce houses and the baseball game," she said.

One of the more popular attractions was the face painting lady, who was busy non-stop from 1 o'clock until almost 5 pm creating art on hundreds of young kids' faces.