Trolling for a good time?

The Children’s Festival in Nevada City’s Pioneer Park will include a number of characters as part of its day of fun as well as more than 200 local volunteers.

Children’s Festival returns to Pioneer Park

The Children’s Festival returns to Pioneer Park in Nevada City from 9 a.m. to noon and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, July 20.

The Renaissance Faire for children and will include arts and crafts tables, strolling minstrels, face-painters, a bridge-guarding troll, medieval fencing, a Wildlife Release and Rehabilitation falconry presentation, and Claude, the life-sized mechanical dragon.

Founded in 1971 by Pat Cobler and Ilse Barnhart, the Children’s Festival was a summer event for 19 years. It was revived in 2003 after a lapse of 13 years as a memorial tribute to Ilse Barnhart. This year, it celebrates the 10th anniversary of its revival.

“The Children’s Festival is really a labor of love for me,” festival director Karen Nelson said. “It is a special event that brings out a wonderful spirit in everyone who participates. We are working hard to keep true to the spirit of the original festival as created by Ilse Barnhart and Pat Cobler.”

Children will make their own costumes, swords, shields and magic wands, and engage in wood block construction, soapstone carving and clay modeling. A medieval cardboard castle will be available to paint. Last year, more than 2,000 children and adults attended.

The festival is sponsored by the Nevada City Rotary Club along with many local businesses and is made possible by more than 200 volunteers.

For more information, email knelson349@gmail.com.