If you have a kid in your life who loves to build, create, and imagine with Lego bricks then Lego Kidsfest is perfect for you. Since you’re a GeekDad reader I would guess that you may be as interested in attending as your geeklet.
It’s a huge Lego party with areas to build your own creations, to check out other kids’ creations and to see some Lego masterworks. All of the Lego goodness was a siren call for me. But would KidsFest crash into a mess of Lego bricks, crying kids, and exasperated parents?
We were confronted with a huge line of people waiting to get into the Hynes Convention Center. It was PAX-like in length. We arrived 15 minutes after the opening time and the line had already filled the first floor corrals and spilled out to the street. After considerable waiting we finally made it into the Lego Garden of Eden. Tens of thousands (Millions?) of Lego bricks were at our fingertips.
The biggest collection of bricks was gathered around Creation Nation, a basketball-court sized map of the United States. Participants get a 16×16 plate to build whatever they want with the enormous assortment of bricks piled on the tables surrounding the map. Event personnel then place your model inside the map, slowly filling in the outline of the United States and creating a mosaic of models. It should be no surprise that the Northeast filled up first. Our two contributions randomly ended up in northern Minnesota.
Like the mural at Star Wars Celebration V, KidsFest had an attendee-produced mystery mural. Unfortunately, it was unorganized and understaffed. The eight-by-eight tiles piled up as the few overworked attendants were overwhelmed by the mob of young builders.
KidsFest offered a limited number of tickets and sold out the show. Even with a cap on attendees we encountered long lines and big crowds. Regular announcements of a lost parent echoed over the PA system. As accompaniment, there was a chorus of stressed-out parents chastising their kids for wandering off.
Besides Lego-focused areas there were vendor booths, most of which were oddly out of place. At least WBUR had a Lego creation and contest to guess the number of bricks. Honda offered to take a free picture of you sitting in one of their Odyssey minivans. The remote control car racetrack had little to do with Lego other than a Lego sticker on their hoods. The competition seemed to involve kids wildly turning their steering wheels while the attendants pushed the cars around the track.
There are Lego model galleries and brickscapes throughout the exhibition floor. Indiana Jones, Captain Rex, Boba Fett, R2-D2, and a battle droid were great. Batman, in an action pose on top of a gargoyle adorned building turret, was impressive. The biggest hit was the six-foot long Republic Attack Cruiser.
I found the experience to be far from perfect, but a good way to spend half a day with my geeklet.
We would love to hear about what you liked and did not like about Lego KidsFest. Submit a comment below and let us know.
The first edition of KidsFest was last fall in Hartford. The Boston version this past weekend was the start of a new tour. The Lego KidsFest is on the road, coming to:
Chicago: Friday, October 29 through Sunday, October 31, 2010
New York: Friday, November 12 through Sunday, November 14, 2010
Hartford: Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 5, 2010
Atlanta: February 11-13, 2011
Philadelphia: April 8-10, 2011
Los Angeles: April 29 – May 1, 2011
For those of you with younger Lego fans, be forewarned that strollers are not allowed.
Scenes from Lego KidsFest Boston 2010:
The organizers were nice enough to provide me and my geeklet with free admission. All images are by Doug Cornelius
