Free Minnesota Family Festival Comes to Waite Park Sunday

(KNSI) – Kids will be racing inside giant inflatable balls, jousting on inflatable pedestals, learning kung fu and building their own catapults Sunday at the Minnesota Family Festival in Waite Park.

The activities run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Organizer Jason Roering, founder of Minnesota Family magazine, says the festival isn’t meant to be his alone. “It is your festival. This is your community; show up for it, you know, and have a great time. All we’re asking you to do is come have a great time.”

Admission, parking and every game are free.

The festival opens with a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m., and Roering says there’s a reason for it. “Minnesota Family Festival, this is the first time it’s ever happened, and it appears as though the community wants this to be something that will continue.”

The Park Event Center has already agreed to host again in 2027.

The festival will fill the center’s ballrooms and spill into the lobby, where kids can sit down for a game of chess. Families can meet Porter, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office bloodhound, climb inside a fire truck and catch St. Cloud State mascot Blizzard leading the crowd in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at 12:30 p.m.

Each of the roughly 40 activities stamps a festival passport, and families who fill theirs can enter a drawing for one of five $100 gift certificates.

Food will be sold inside, though Roering says families who want to spend nothing can pack a lunch and eat in the park next door.

A guide to every activity will be posted at minnesotafamilymagazine.com/festival by Saturday.

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