By Gibron Rahim

Kidsfest 592 and Miss Kids Fest

TODAY’s busy world presents a challenge to families. Between parents working and children attending school, there is hardly time for family bonding. Yet, family time remains a crucial aspect of raising confident, well-rounded children. Among those events that aim to foster an environment for families to spend time together is AOne Events’ Kidsfest 592 and Miss Kids Fest Pageant.

The event, as Natalya Thomas who is the director of events at AOne explained to the Pepperpot Magazine, all emerged from her love for children. After starting AOne Events she began looking into creating events for families. Thomas realised, from her own experiences with the difficulty of finding events to take her younger sister to, that there was a need for more family-centred events. Kidsfest 592 emerged from her desire to provide that fun and child-oriented environment for families. “I decided, since I’m an event planner, maybe I should do a kids’ event,” she said.

This year’s Kidsfest will be held today at the Promenade Gardens. The highlight of the event will be the Miss Kids Fest Pageant which will see girls and young ladies competing in the four to six, seven to 11 and 12 to 15 age categories. The contestants will display their talents throughout the pageant’s segments. The pageant will begin with an opening dance number, followed by the costume or creative wear segment and then the talent and evening gown segments.

Thomas noted that the pageant’s judges will be looking for confidence, presence and presentation. “There is no question and answer segment for the categories because, of course, they’re still children,” Thomas stated. Instead, she explained the contestants will be able to introduce themselves so that the judges and audience can learn a bit about their personalities.

Pageants today, especially those involving children, tend to have a negative connotation. However, the Miss Kids Fest is not an end in itself. She explained that she believes in helping children to become more bold and confident from a young age. She opined that it appears as though the younger generation in Guyana lacks confidence. She contrasted that with the confidence displayed by young people in developed countries. She stressed that she does not want the pageant to be focused on beauty. Rather, “I want it to be about the personality – bringing out the best ‘you’, bringing out the best in the children – and helping them to grow in that confidence,” she said.

Thomas noted that confidence is essential in empowering young people to make the right decisions. She explained that those who are shy and timid are more vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Her aim is for young people to be bold and confident. The pageant is more of a vehicle toward achieving that aim while at the same time allowing the contestants to be recognised for their abilities.

There will be various prizes awarded to the Miss Kids Fest contestants to recognise their performance. Each contestant, Thomas said, will receive a cash prize. There will also be trophies and medals. Additionally, “Each one of them will be given a crown because I don’t want any of them to leave that stage feeling like they haven’t accomplished anything because they would have worked tremendously hard to be where they are,” she clearly stated. Other prizes include dental care from Dr SenGupta and Associates, swimming classes and dance classes from Happy Feet Dance Studio. The Kidsfest Organisation will also sponsor a three-day trip with a parent to Suriname for the older contestants.
Thomas noted that one of the numerous reasons for the existence of delinquent youths in our society today is a lack of support in the home from a tender age. For this reason, Thomas decided to host Kidsfest under the slogan “Fun at any age”. Kidsfest 592, she emphasised, is not just for children. Further, “In every person, there’s a little child inside and I would like to bring out that child in everyone,” she explained. Kidsfest 592 accomplishes this through a fun-filled day of adventure. Through the event, Thomas hopes to capture the same essence of joy and magic that draws people to the Disney Theme Parks right here in Guyana.

Events such as Kidsfest 592 and the Miss Kids Fest Pageant are important in allowing children especially to spend time with their families. Children, Thomas explained, are overjoyed when they are able to be with their parents, grandparents and other extended family and partake in various activities. Thomas herself has fond recollections of such occasions. “That is something that I can remember and I keep replaying that in my head,” she said. She added that it is very important that our young generation is afforded the opportunity to have that same feeling of joy. In our developing society, it is often difficult to keep family at the forefront but Thomas hopes to do just that with Kidsfest. “It’s all about family and bringing that value back and togetherness for me.”