Merrick Chamber’s Kids Fest draws a crowd

The Merrick Kids Festival attracted thousands of fair-goers to the grounds around the Long Island Rail Road station on the weekend of April 16 to 17.

The annual event, organized by the Merrick Chamber of Commerce, included performances by local theater groups, dance schools and magicians, an appearance by American Idol Robbie Rosen, a crafts fair and much more.

"We had a great festival,” said Ira Reiter, a Merrick Chamber of Commerce vice president. “Our craft fair was bigger than last year. We seemed to have more people walking through the area all weekend long."

Saturday was rainy, but the sun shone through on Friday and Sunday, and the chamber estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 people took part in the festival.

In conjunction with the festival, the chamber also held a business expo to promote local merchants. "That is one of our main reasons for doing festivals,” said Reiter. “We want all community members to see what our businesses do, what we're all about and what the chamber does for them."

According to Reiter, part of the money raised from the festival will go toward scholarships at Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham high schools, which the chamber presents annually.

"It was a tremendous crowd,” he said. “The whole board from the Chamber of Commerce was involved in putting” the festival together.

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