SOLANA BEACH — La Colonia Community Park was hopping on Saturday as hundreds of families enjoyed an egg hunt, bouncy houses and face painting in the sunshine at Solana Beach’s annual Children’s Spring Festival.
Many families came specifically for the highly anticipated egg hunt, where excitement surged through the air as everyone from toddlers to 9-year-olds, separated into different areas by age group, searched for plastic eggs containing small treasures.
After completing their hunt, kids proudly spread out their winnings on the grass and compared how they did with their siblings and friends. Parents had the chance to catch up with each other, and kids were able to spend the day with their neighbors, relatives and classmates.
Many residents attend the event every year, but for several families, it was their first time back since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everyone is out, the sun is out … it’s a really local feel,” said resident Natalya Soto, who came to the festival with her two young daughters. “They look forward to it more than I do. For me it’s just something to do with them to get outside, for them, it’s more about the egg hunt and meeting their classmates.”
Following the egg hunt, kids could be seen lining up to get their faces painted with bright flowers and bunnies, bounce in the bounce houses, and color in coloring sheets with Easter-themed illustrations.
Emotions grew high once again when volunteers with the local Boys and Girls Club, who helped to run the event, called kids over with a bunny piñata. A gathering crowd of kids called for its destruction as each one stepped up to take a whack until it broke open with hundreds of small candies.
For those more interested in meeting an Easter bunny than whacking him with a stick, the character was also present at the festival and available for photos.
