10th annual Bubblefest draws 3,000 participants

Soap, water and laughter filled the Frank Southern Ice Arena as Bloomington Parks and Recreation and Wonderlab science museum held the 10th annual Bubblefest Friday. The event was held right behind Bloomington South High school and featured more than 20 bubble stations.\n"Until you get here you don't really appreciate it," said Carrie Miller from Wonderlab, one of the coordinators of the event. Stations included everything from frozen bubbles to flashlight bubbles. One of the more popular bubble stations was the body bubbles, participants who dared to stand in the tank of bubbles would literally be inside a gigantic bubble. \nThe building was filled with wet soap and most stations would be too messy to do at home. Miller said this is one event that gives kids an excuse to get out of the house and have fun.\n"Opportunity for soap and bubbles, hey, they can't resist," said Allison Miller a volunteer at the Bubblefest. Leslie Kaiser, a coordinator from the Bloomington Parks and Recreation, said that the event was expected to have close to 3,000 people, up from last year's 2,100. She said that the age group is typically two to 12 but people of all ages come to the event and have fun.\nMiller said the event used to be held at the Banneker Center, but quickly outgrew it. It has been held on a Friday in July in the Frank Southern Ice Arena on Henderson St. for several years now. It goes from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and some camps that pre-register have the opportunity to come before 11 a.m.\n"We hit a market with this group," said Kaiser of a program that started by drawing hundreds, and now thousands. \nThe event has become a more popular event through the years. \nThe event included close to 200 volunteers. Miller said that the volunteers are what really make this event possible. There were volunteers from all over Bloomington, including many IU students. \n"Volunteers can get involved through Wonderlab (and) no, they don't need bubble experience," Kaiser said. Kaiser said it takes at least 100 volunteers to even make the event run efficiently.\nThis is the only time Bloomington Parks and Recreation and Wonderlab get together during the year. Miller said besides just giving the kids an opportunity to get out of the house and have fun, this event is an opportunity to get the word out about the Wonderlab, a science museum geared to give children hands on experiences in the natural world around them.\nWhen asked about plans for next year Kaiser said there wasn't anything particular. \n"A market of people are looking for something for their age group to do, something that doesn't take that long, that's educational and fun," Kaiser said. "So, we're going to keep doing what we are doing"