By Charly SHELTON

Last weekend, Griffith Park was home to the 8th Annual Great Big Family Play Day, a family-fun event presented by Hey, Milestone and Wonderfold Wagon. Billed as “Coachella for Families,” this was a gigantic festival that took over the lawn in front of the Autry Museum of the American West.

The event started in 2015 as a fairly small affair, but over the years has grown exponentially. In previous years, the event was held at different locations across Los Angeles but in 2019 the event was held in Griffith Park for the first time, and it has been there ever since.

Parents and children alike enjoyed a range of activities from live music and dance performances to arts and crafts, a dinosaur walkthrough, soccer game trials, beanbag toss, bounce houses, slime-making and more. Even Curious George got in on the action, greeting guests inside the covered area of the Autry Museum.

Many family-focused businesses and organizations also participated in the event, setting up booths to showcase their products and services. All attendees, but especially children and parents, were gifted trials, samples, goodie bags and other takeaway items to promote new products and foods from Oats in Coats Instant Oatmeal to Ocho Organic Candies to Beech-Nut’s newest line of “hidden veggie” dinosaur biscuit cookies. And while many of the treats may have been intended for kids, at least a few fathers were found scarfing down those dinosaur biscuits a handful at a time.

With such a diverse range of activities, families found no shortage of things to do and see throughout the day. Children of all ages enjoyed the opportunity to have fun and socialize in an outdoor environment while parents appreciated the chance to relax and enjoy quality family time.

Overall, the Great Big Family Play Day was a huge success and continues to be a beloved event for families across Los Angeles. For more information and to look forward to next year’s event, visit greatbigfamilyplayday.com/los-angeles.