University a cappella group, theater troupe to perform at 2019 Kids Fest

Children and their families attending the third annual Kids Fest in October will be entertained as much as they are educated with performances by groups such as UNC Charlotte’s Codachrome A Cappella and the Queen City Circus.

Kids Fest, a free interactive educational event for children 10 and under, will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, at UNC Charlotte, near the Institute Circle entrance off North Tryon Street. University City Partners, a nonprofit organization that helps drive development in the University City area, created Kids Fest to expand the minds of children and parents in the Charlotte region. UNC Charlotte is a sponsor of the event, and several University departments are participating.

Kids Fest activities are organized around five themes: learn (reading, math, history, science and technology); discover (performing arts); create (arts and crafts); go (exploration of all things on wheels); and play (outdoor activities, games and gaming).

“Charlotte Kids Fest inspires and motivates all children to learn, do and be more than they imagined,” said Darlene Heater, executive director of University City Partners. “Having the event at Charlotte’s premiere research university has been a perfect fit. With the support of University departments and businesses from University City and across town, we’ve seen families spend the entire day at this remarkable, high-quality festival. The kids have a blast and parents look forward to returning each year.”

UNC Charlotte’s Queen City Circus, a physical theater troupe comprised of students in the University’s Dance and Theater departments, will give circus demonstrations and performances throughout the day.

And this will be the first year that Codachrome A Cappella performs at Kids Fest. The group, established in 2013 as The Finer Niners, has rebranded, said member Siedmann Soltes, a junior nursing major from Cary, North Carolina. He stated Kids Fest is an opportunity for the group to reintroduce itself. The festival will be good exposure for Codachrome’s new members; the group has grown from about five members to 17 since its inception, Soltes said.

The group has gone from only performing on campus to performing in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Soltes said Codachrome placed third in the spring 2019 competition.

At Kids Fest, Soltes said attendees can expect to hear the group’s renditions of popular pop tunes.

Other participants from UNC Charlotte include students from the College of Computing and Informatics, who will help children build robots from Legos; students from the Chemistry Department will demonstrate combustion; and the University’s Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling will help children make art out of recycled objects. Kids Fest is a Zero Waste event.

The 2018 Kids Fest attracted 7,000 attendees.

Photo: UNC Charlotte’s Codachrome A Cappella student group.