Hampton Beach Children’s Festival 2023: What you need to know
HAMPTON — From magic shows to ice cream with the lifeguards, the Hampton Beach Children’s Festival returns next week with five days of fun and entertainment for kids.
The annual event kicks off Monday, Aug. 14, at 10 a.m. with a magic show with BJ Hickman and culminates on Friday, Aug. 18, with a giant costume parade where every child wins a prize.
Sherrill Ayles, of the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce, said the event dates back more than five decades. Then, it was only a one-day, but it expanded into a weeklong festival in 1985.
Activities geared for kids aged 2-12 take place each day near or on the Seashell Stage, starting at 10 a.m. and running until late afternoon. Sponsored by the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce and underwritten by the Hampton Beach Village District, admission is free each day.
Children’s Festival brings magic and fun to the Seashell Stage
Ayles said there will be several magic shows during the festival.
“It’s very popular,” she said of magic shows. “On Thursday, we have Fran Flynn, the magician extraordinaire and he really is – he’s not only a magician, but he also does balloon twisting as well.”
BJ Hickman, a mainstay at the Children’s Festival, returns Monday at 10 a.m. with his “dazzling deception, mind-reading miracles, silly surprises, and sleight of hand.”
Hickman has been performing magic since he was a kid. “My dad taught me a little trick with a piece of string, and I was hooked,” recalls Hickman.
Also performing this year is magician and juggler Robert Clarke at 2 p.m. on Tuesday and Fran Flynn on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
Clarke is known for taking his audience “on a rollercoaster of laughs, cheers and smiles,” while Flynn is the self-proclaimed “magician extraordinaire.”
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Children play for free at Buc’s Lagoon
The popular mini-golf course at Hampton Beach is known for being the home to the 27-foot tall, 15-foot-wide pirate statue named Buc.
The pirate has been a fixture at Hampton Beach for decades and even recognized by Parade Magazine as one of the top 50 American Original sites in the U.S.
And on Tuesday, from noon to 3 p.m., kids 12 and under can play the 18-hole mini golf course for free as part of the Children’s Festival.
Ayles recommends kids sign up at the Beach Information Center by noon to get a spot.
“Sometimes we have to turn people away because it’s full and they don’t register on time,” she said. “That’s how popular it is.”
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Explore the Ocean World with Ellen Goethel
Marine biologist Ellen Goethel will give visitors a hands-on marine lesson on the Seashell Stage on Wednesday at 11 a.m.
"I’ll do a presentation with some live sea animals (invertebrates) and finish it off with an art activity of Gyotaku, the ancient Japanese art of fish printing," Goethel said.
Goethel is the owner of the Hampton Beach Oceanarium. Located between the former Oceanside Inn and Lighthouse Grocery at 367 Ocean Boulevard, the Oceanarium offers the young and old a chance to see and hold living marine species like 10-arm purple sun stars and a deep-sea squirting scallop.
Goethel gives visitors a one-hour tour that features her deep-sea critters that you don’t often see in other touch tanks and a discussion of whales and sharks, complete with samples of artifacts of each species.
In the tide pool tanks, visitors can see and hold the tiny crabs, starfish and deep-water snow crabs that live down past 1,000 feet in the Atlantic.
The Oceanarium has been a Hampton Beach staple since 2013.
Also on Wednesday, the Blue Ocean Society, which operates the Blue Ocean Discovery Center at Hampton Beach, will host a scavenger hunt and beach clean-up at 3 p.m.
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Hang out with the Hampton Beach lifeguards
Fresh off their win at the New England Lifesaving Competition, the Hampton Beach lifeguards will take part in several events at the Children Festival.
The guards will run a “Jr. Life Guard” program at 11 a.m. on Monday and will show off some of their equipment along with Hampton police and fire during a Touch the Truck event at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
On Thursday, children will get to have ice cream with the lifeguards at 1:15 p.m. and learn more about water safety.
“It’s just a great week for everyone to come and work together and make Hampton Beach a better place than it already is,” said Patrick Murphy, chief of the Hampton Beach lifeguards.
Free prizes and more at Children’s Festival
Ayles said there will be a daily raffle from Monday through Thursday offered by the Hampton Beach Casino. The raffle is free, and visitors will get a chance to win stuffed animals, inflatables and more.
One of the new events this year will be the hula hoop performance by Extreme Air NH, which will be on Monday at 1:30 p.m. The Newmarket-based group also has the only jump rope team for ages 8-18 representing the state of New Hampshire in the USA Jump Rope national circuit.
There will also be an adolescent yoga & meditation class with local instructor Dannika Ross at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday and an art lesson with Hampton artist Alyssa Pine at 2 p.m. on Thursday. Both are sign-up events.
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Giant Costume Parade at Hampton Beach
The Children’s Festival Costume Parade returns Friday, with kids able to wear their own costumes or pick one available at the festival.
The parade, featuring appearances from Miss Hampton Beach and her royal court, marches from Hampton Beach State South to the Seashell Stage.
Prizes are given to winners chosen in different costume categories and include gift certificates from local Hampton businesses.
The grand finale at the Seashell stage offers every child a prize.
The parade culminates with a performance from Mr. Aaron.
For more information and updates about the Hampton Beach Children’s Festival, visit hamptonchamber.com or call the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce at 603-926-8717.
Hampton Beach Children Festival 2023
Monday, Aug. 14
10 a.m. – BJ Hickman Magic Show
11 a.m. – Life Guard “Jr. Life Guard” Program
12 p.m. – Hampton Beach Casino Daily Raffle
12:30 p.m. – Seacoast Civic Dance Company
1:30 p.m. – Extreme Air NH - Hula Hoopers
3 p.m. – To be determined
7:45 p.m. – HBVD Hosts Movie Night: “Puss & Boots - The Last Wish” (Weather permitting)
Tuesday, Aug. 15
10 a.m. – Story Time with Paulina Shadowens
11 a.m. – Showtime Steve
12 p.m. – Hampton Beach Casino Daily Raffle
12 - 3 p.m. – Buc’s Lagoon Mini Golf (Sign-up event)
2 p.m. – Magician & Juggler Robert Clarke
3 p.m. – Touch the Truck
Wednesday, Aug. 16
10 a.m. – DrumatiX - Dance
11 a.m. – Explore the Ocean World with Ellen Goethel
12 p.m. – Hampton Beach Casino Daily Raffle
12:30 p.m. – Adolescent Yoga & Meditation (Sign-up event)
2 p.m. – Kindness Rock Painting Party (Sign-up event)
3 p.m. – Blue Ocean Society - Scavenger Hunt & Beach Clean-up
9:30 p.m. – Fireworks (Weather permitting)
Thursday, Aug. 17
10 a.m. – To be determined
11 a.m. – The Red Star - World Champion Red Star Twirlers
12 p.m. – Hampton Beach Casino Daily Raffle
12:30 p.m. –Magician Extraordinaire Fran Flynn
1:15 p.m. – Ice Cream with the Lifeguards
2 p.m. – Paint with Alyssa Pine
Friday, Aug. 18
10:15 a.m. – Parade Participants meet at the Hampton Beach State South
11 a.m. – Children’s Costume Parade
12 p.m. – Musical performance by Mr. Aaron
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Beach Children’s Festival 2023: Magic, fireworks, costume parade and more
