HarbourKIDS: SK8 - A fun and free weekend winter festival for kids ages five to 12

PARTICIP8, ACCELER8, CRE8 & CELEBR8 SKATE CULTURE!
Free family fun both inside & out at Harbourfront Centre!
December 5-6, 2009
11 a.m.-5 p.m.

TORONTO, ON, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 ’Äì Harbourfront Centre is thrilled to present the second annual HarbourKIDS: SK8 ’Äì an exciting winter weekend of FREE family activities celebrating the fun of skate culture. HarbourKIDS is Harbourfront Centre’Äôs free family programme designed for kids from five to 12 years old. Each festival centres around a ’ÄúBig Idea’Äù. For this special first weekend of December, the Big Idea for HarbourKIDS is ’ÄúSK8’Äù.

HarbourKIDS: SK8 celebrates skate culture in all its forms. Featuring ice skating on the Natrel® Rink and the brand new synthetic Natrel® Kinder Rink, skateboarding at the Natrel® Indoor Skate Park, break dancing and DJ workshops, winter games, activities and crafts, and cool interactive music and ice shows, HarbourKIDS: SK8 keeps kids moving, thinking, creating, and having TONS of FUN!

For complete event details and full schedule, visit www.harbourfrontcentre.com/harbourkids.

Highlights of HarbourKIDS: SK8
Harbourkids: SK8 provides a fun platform for kids to explore and enjoy skating and all the culture that surrounds it. Here's what we’Äôll be exploring via our programming:

PARTICIP8
It’Äôs time to feel the rhythm! From popping and locking with Street Dance Academy to learning to DJ with the Scratch Lab DJ Institute, kids will have a blast getting directly involved in these events.

Street Dance Academy
Performances: Saturday at 12 p.m. & 3 p.m.; Sunday at 12 p.m. & 1:30 p.m. (Studio Theatre)
Workshops: Saturday at 1:30 p.m. & 4 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m. & 4 p.m. (Brigantine Room)
Scratch Lab DJ Institute Workshops
Saturday & Sunday, 12-5 p.m. (Marilyn Brewer Community Space)

ACCELER8
Full steam ahead! Kids' abilities will accelerate at this festival whether they're on deck or on ice. How fast can they go on the Natrel® indoor park and outdoor rink? How much speed is needed to send a curling stone down the ice? To improve their skills, kids will also have access to professional skateboarders, as well as curling and skating coaches who will hold free clinics throughout the weekend.

Skateboarding at the Natrel® Indoor Skate Park
Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (Lakeside Terrace)
Ice Skating on the Natrel® Rink
Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Curling on the Natrel® Rink
Saturday & Sunday at 11 a.m.-12 p.m., 2-2:30 p.m. & 4-5 p.m.

CRE8
Express your creativity and bring home the Gold! Kids can custom-design a national hockey mask based on the country of their choice, learn some skateboarding lingo while stencilling graffiti, and create cool winter buttons. They can also envision themselves as athletes or architects as we create LEGO®-sized versions of a winter wonderland.

What’Äôs Your Lingo?
Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (Lakeside Terrace)
LEGO® Winter Village
Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (Miss Lou’Äôs Room)
Go Team Go! Hockey Masks
Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (West Arcade)
Get Your Buttons On!
Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (West Arcade)

CELEBR8
Kids can let loose and indulge their eyes and ears through a variety of special presentations, including another exciting installation of our Music With Bite series for young music lovers, kid-friendly DJ Andrew Allsgood, and Montreal’Äôs Le Patin Libre, an amazing ice show where Ice Capades meets Cirque du Soleil. HarbourKIDS: SK8 is also the perfect way to remind kids of the diversity and beauty of the winter season.

Music With Bite: Orfea and the Golden Harp
(a co-production with Jeunesses Musicales Ontario)
Sunday, 1 p.m. (Brigantine Room)
Kids Skate with DJ Andrew Allsgood
Saturday & Sunday, 4 p.m.-5 p.m. (The Natrel® Rink)
Le Patin Libre
Saturday & Sunday, 12-12:45 p.m. & 2:30-3:15 p.m. (The Natrel® Rink)

HarbourKIDS: SK8 ICE HOST
Ryan Gladstone will be your ’ÄúIce Host’Äù for the weekend, making sure everyone on the ice knows what’Äôs going on inside, giving directions around the site, helping to make sure your rink experience is UNFORGETTABLE and that everyone has TONS of FUN!

THE NATREL® RINK
Every year approximately 150,000 people glide their skates across The Natrel¬Æ Rink at Harbourfront Centre, which is one of Toronto’Äôs largest and most beautiful outdoor rinks! Bordering the shoreline of Lake Ontario, The Natrel¬Æ Rink provides skate rentals, lockers and a family-friendly environment that celebrates our country's national winter pastime seven days a week. Controlled fireplaces will be set up around the ice to keep all our HarbourKIDS warm! For more information, visit harbourfrontcentre.com/skating.

THE NATREL® KINDER RINK
New this fall! Made of synthetic, eco-friendly materials, this alternative rink surface from AGL (Artificial Grass & Landscaping) is the perfect skating venue for beginners. Works with regular skates!

Come and enjoy its GRAND OPENING at HarbourKIDS: SK8!
THE NATREL® INDOOR SKATE PARK
Skateboarding experts will be ready and waiting at a mobile skate park geared towards the amateur rider.

Kids and beginners will be monitored for safety and will be given pointers to improve their technique. The park can accommodate up to 15 skaters ’Äî 12 active and a few waiting to take their turn ’Äî and 12 skateboards and helmets will be available for those that don't own their own equipment. (Helmets are mandatory.) The park includes a quarter pipe, launch ramp, flat bank, grind box, two grind rails and a three-piece fly box.

VISUAL ARTS & CRAFT at YORK QUAY CENTRE: Homegrown Skateboards
Part of the winter Visual Arts & Craft exhibitions, this is an installation from LaHave, Nova Scotia featuring homemade skateboards by artist, craftsperson and entrepreneur Jesse Watson.

COURSES & WORKSHOPS: Candy Making for Families
Saturday, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

*Pre-registration required - $40 (one adult and one child), $10 each additional child*
Before hitting the HarbourKIDS activities, spend some quality family time making tasty treats for the holidays! You and your kids will make a variety of treats to enjoy this holiday season. This workshop is suitable for children ages five and up, accompanied by a parent or caregiver.
HarbourKIDS Club Membership

Sign up to be a HarbourKIDS Club Member and receive your very own ’ÄúSplooshy’Äù tattoo! Pick up a copy of our Kid’Äôs Guide to Harbourfront Centre and explore our site on an interactive discovery walk! If you want, we’Äôll send you periodic emails to let you know about fun upcoming family events at Harbourfront!