Organizers gearing up for 2021 Roaring Youth Jam in Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS – The 2021 edition of Roaring Youth Jam is coming to the Idaho Falls River Walk next weekend.
An art festival staged by the Idaho Falls Arts Council, Youth Jam allows kids and adults to flex their creative muscles on a number of fun art projects. The festival also features family-friendly vendors and performances by musicians, dancers and more.
“The reason we do it is to provide a fun, messy opportunity for kids to interact with art at no cost,” Arts Council spokeswoman Georgina Goodlander told EastIdahoNews.com. “We really encourage people from all around the region to come down and hang out with us.”
Excitement for Youth Jam 2021 is especially high after COVID-19 restrictions forced the Arts Council to offer a take-home version of the event last year.
“Even though at the beginning of the summer we were hopeful we would be able to do a live event, as it got a few weeks out from Youth Jam, it did not look like that was going to be a good idea,” Goodlander said. “But we still wanted to do something, so we did Grab-and-Go. We packaged all of the art projects that usually would have been out at the booths and gave you everything you needed so you could do those projects at home.”
While the Grab-and-Go method was successful, there is an extra dollop of excitement to be able to do an in-person festival this year.
“There’s definitely a lot of excitement,” said Goodlander. “There’s a lot of nerves because we haven’t done this now for two years. We’re also feeling a lot of excitement from the community, so we’re anticipating it will be pretty busy. That’s awesome and also a little bit scary.”
People who come out for Youth Jam 2021 will be able to participate in a wide range of projects relating to this year’s theme of “Under the Sea.” Mediums from collage to texture art to window art will be featured, alongside painting and design activities. Goodlander outlined some highlights to look forward to.
“There’s a jellyfish project, a mermaid project and a variety of other fun stuff,” she said. “Also, we are planning to construct a giant whale out of PVC pipe, cover it in paper and have the kids paint it.
Teton Volkswagen, a new title sponsor for Youth Jam 2021, will also provide a specially wrapped car that kids will be able to decorate.
Goodlander said that Youth Jam couldn’t be possible without the help of sponsors, like Teton Toyota, as well as the support of the community at large.
“We’ve had huge community support and sponsorships of this year’s Youth Jam,” she said. “As it is a completely free event, it takes a lot to put this on, so we really do rely on the support of the sponsors. We definitely could not do it without them.”
The Idaho Falls Arts Council’s Roaring Youth Jam 2021 hit the River Walk in Downtown Idaho Falls August 12-14. Activities each day start at 10 a.m. and the event is free to the public. Visit the Arts Council website or the Youth Jam Facebook page for more information.
