Yuma Children’s Festival of the Arts returns April 18 with America 250 theme

The 33rd annual Children’s Festival of the Arts will turn the block in front of the Yuma Art Center into a free, family-heavy downtown draw on Saturday, April 18, with more than 50 make-and-take art booths, live youth performances, a foam party, food vendors and community booths from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The City of Yuma Arts & Culture Division is framing the festival around “America 250,” tying the event to the nation’s 250th birthday while keeping the focus on kids and hands-on creativity. The Youth Art Exhibition inside the art center will add another layer, with work from grades K-12 submitted by teachers across Yuma County and Winterhaven, and more than 30 teachers represented in the show.

“Children’s Festival of the Arts is a celebration of creativity, imagination, and young voices,” Kristyn Trujillo, the city’s Recreation Program Coordinator, said. She said the gallery setting helps students build confidence and pride, and the city says the event is supported by dozens of local organizations, schools and arts education advocates.

Cassandra Contreras, the Arts Program Supervisor at the Yuma Art Center, is listed as the contact for festival questions at (928) 373-5212. The event’s downtown setting at 254 S. Main St. gives families a chance to pair the festival with lunch, shopping or a walk through the city center, while local businesses benefit from the foot traffic that a free, high-turnout event can generate.

The festival lands on a busy spring calendar. The same weekend, the city is hosting “Yuma Salutes America’s 250: A Star-Spangled Celebration” at Desert Sun Stadium from 3 to 11 p.m. on April 18, with Randy Houser, Parmalee and Bobby McClendon on the lineup, plus food and drink vendors and a kids zone. Elsewhere on the calendar, the free Village Jazz Series continues every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. through April 30 in the Village Area of Yuma Palms Regional Center, in front of Harkins Theatres, with the Yuma Jazz Company, visiting artists and student ensembles from Arizona Western College and local high schools.

Yuma’s spring schedule extends beyond entertainment. The Yuma County Chamber of Commerce has Good Morning Yuma! set for May 14 at the Yuma Civic Center, a sign that downtown and civic venues are being used not just for festivals, but for networking, local promotion and the kind of steady civic engagement that keeps money and attention circulating close to home.