SANTA MONICA—On April 11, the city of Santa Monica announced in collaboration with Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District welcomes families to the free 10th annual Arts & Literacy Festival on Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Virginia Avenue Park.
The city of Santa Monica indicated in a press release that the theme for 2024 “The robots are here,” and the event will host over 30 different community organizations offering games and activities that align with Santa Monica Cradle to Career Building Blocks for Kindergarten campaign, which brings together community partners to ensure Santa Monica children start kindergarten ready to learn, inside and outside the classroom.
Event activities include:
-reDiscover Center’s Robot Dance Party
-Robotic demonstrations by SaMo Tech Robotics Team
-Santa Monica Public Library’s Storytime Stage featuring robot themed books read by local librarians and Santa Monica Fire Chief Matthew Hallock
-An obstacle course organized by Santa Monica Fire Department
-Delivery robot Coco making special deliveries
-The popular Steve’s Machine Empire featuring participatory machines and contraptions
-Santa Monica Resource Recovery & Recycling’s Curby the Robot will be on hand to teach children about recycling
-Dancing with Bollypop and WeBreak dance companies
-Collecting stamps from activity booths on the event’s Explorer Card, redeemable for a free book at the Santa Monica Public Library booth
Main Stage performance schedule:
-Emcee Sean Hill
-SaMo Tech Robotics Team demonstration
-WeBreak hip hop dance company
-Santa Monica Youth Orchestra’s Mariachi Ensemble and Balkan Ensemble
-Bollypop interactive dance performance
-Elemental Music’s Prelude program
-Santa Monica Ballet Folklorico
For more details, visit santamonica.gov/places/parks/virginia-avenue-park.
By Trevor