Prepare for KIDitarod!

 

THE RACE IS ON. This year, Figment Chicago will be the scene for a contest of epic proportions. Teams of Kidita-racers will visit various exciting and instructive checkpoints around the site based on several of Figment’s founding principles. Kids will have a chance to decorate team flags, take in Figment’s many art projects, and win a Kiditarod trophy! Prepare yourselves for the most adorable showdown Figment has ever seen.

More details and sign-up information to come soon.

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hannah Aubry
Email: info@kiditarod.org

A “CHIditarod” FOR KIDS TO HIGHLIGHT “FIGMENT” AT GARFIELD PARK

(Chicago, July 29, 2013)– Chicago’s famous shopping cart race, The CHIditarod, is launching a summer version for children as part of a new “interactive” festival called Figment. Families in ridiculous costumes will pull decorated wagons in a race between checkpoints (interactive art exhibits). It will take place on August 10th and 11th at the Garfield Park Conservatory at 300 N Central Park Ave, Chicago, IL 60624. The new version is called “KIDitarod”.

“This is a new kind of kid friendly festival,” said Devin Breen, founder of the parent race. “Instead of adults having all the fun by acting like children, we thought: ‘Why not let children act like adults acting like children?’ The fact that it’s also a food drive helps everyone understand that serving your community can be fun.”

CHIditarod is an annual event the first Saturday in March. Modeled on the Alaskan Iditarod®, the racers substitute shopping carts for sleds and costumed people for dogs– four pullers and one musher. Their checkpoints are taverns, and they raise tons of food and cash for the Greater Chicago Food Depository and local, neighborhood gardening projects. The 2013 CHIditarod created more than 14,000 meals for local consumption.

Instead of bringing food to the finish line, kids (and other Figment participants) are asked to bring non-perishable food to the welcoming gates of the festival.

Figment is enjoying its debut in Chicago, but has been an annual event in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., an other cities. It features big art from the Burning Man community, and puts the emphasis on interactivity.

“This is art for play, not just exhibition,” said Elysia Lock, producer of the event. “Figment is about imagination, and this two day event will happily engage yours.”

She talks like that a lot.

Organizers also point out that KIDitarod is “a perfect way to ensure our young athletes will sleep in the car all the way home. It’s a win-win-win, if you include the hungry.”

KIDitarod check-in will start at 1:00 pm on Saturday, with the race starting at 3:00 pm. Teams must register at www.kiditarod.org in advance. Admission is free. For more information visitwww.kiditarod.org.