60th annual Children’s Festival returns to Jacksonville’s Britt Gardens
Published 6:15 am Tuesday, July 7, 2026
A yearly gathering centered on fun and hands-on experiences for kids is returning to the Britt Festival Gardens in Jacksonville with the Children’s Festival, organized by the Storytelling Guild.
The Storytelling Guild is a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to providing opportunities for kids to experience the joys of reading.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the beloved local event.
“It’s very child centered and kids can come and participate in 35 different booths,” said Hollie Arnold, co-director of the Children’s Festival and a member of the Storytelling Guild. “We are really excited because of the 60th anniversary, and we have remained pretty much the same after 60 years.”
The core of the event offers myriad booths scattered around the gardens where kids can try their hand at painting, working with leather, wood, clay, tie-dye and more.
“Each booth has hands-on activities from painting to Play-Doh or making something with leather or wood or gold panning. We also have a science booth; each booth has something for kids to walk up and create something with their hands,” Arnold said.
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The event also features live music by local musicians and family-friendly performances as well as a calm corner designed for kids with sensory challenges, as well as additional features to be inclusive to all participants.
The Dragon Deli will offer food, or visitors are invited to bring their own picnic.
Beloved litter- and recycling-eating dragon mascots Rosabelle and Pebbles will also be on-hand to assist with clean up.
The festival is scheduled for 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 11-12; and 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, July 13.
Admission for the event is $4 per person, and the Britt Gardens are located at 350 S. First Street in Jacksonville.
“We try to maintain the cost of entering the Children’s Festival and it’s $4 per person now, but we offer free passes (for families in need),” Arnold said. “We do our best to keep it affordable.”
According to organizers, the festival has brought in approximately 400,000 visitors over the last six decades, providing kids in the region the opportunity to get messy and use their creative muscles.
“As parents it can look like mess; I always say ‘bring your kids and we can make the mess and clean it up,” Arnold said. “Sometimes a child literally spends an hour on one booth playing in a way that’s fun for them … it’s for the children and they can experiment.”
As part of the 60-year celebration, the Storytelling Guild will honor one of its first directors, Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, as she attends the event for the first time since the 1970s.
“It gives us a chance to honor her legacy,” Arnold said. “She’s visiting from Hawaii for first time since 1975; she moved to Hawaii and is coming back and attending the festival.”
Hereniko is a film producer, community organizer and cultural advocate who played a major role in the early history of the Children’s Festival. After moving to Hawaii, she went on to found the Hawaii International Film Festival as well as produce award-winning films such as “The Land Has Eyes.”
She co-founded the Storytelling Guild and served as the organization’s first president, also establishing the region’s first-ever Children’s Festival in 1964.
“The festival’s theme this year is ‘Remembering History,’ leaning into the 60th anniversary and celebrating the 250th year of the Declaration of Independence, and we’re remembering our beginnings,” Arnold said. “Within the group, a lot of us are sentimental and reminiscing about our first time going and volunteering.”
Arnold first got involved with the Storytelling Guild through her children and learning about the organization through its numerous storytime events and programs.
“I like to stand back and watch the families and kids navigate and have fun,” she said of what she looks forward to most. “I’m not doing it for my kids anymore, I’m doing it for the community. It’s fun to work together and do something like this.”
The Children’s Festival is always looking for volunteers to help, especially considering the event takes hundreds of people each year to run smoothly.
Those interested in volunteering can contact the Storytelling Guild at storytellingguild.org/contact.html.
For more information on the festival, including a map of the event booth locations, the Storytelling Guild or its numerous programs, visit storytellingguild.org.
Reach reporter James Sloan at james.sloan@rv-times.com.