Holiday festivities for children — and their parents — will be in full swing on Saturday, Dec. 7, when Advocates for Children once again hosts its annual Holiday Festival for Children.

The celebration will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Dominic Academy, 121 Gracelawn Ave., Auburn.

The fun-filled day features several stage performances — Rick Charette, young juggler, Will Silvers, and an energizing exhibition by Pelletier’s Karate demonstration team. Free crafts for children to make and take home will be provided by several local businesses and agencies, along with a bounce house and a cake walk. Santa will be there too, along with several favorite characters and mascots.

New at the festival this year will be a chocolate fundraiser by Ella’s Chocolates, and a raffle.

Along with the stage performances, the audience can enjoy two “wildly popular” animal presentations by Spark’s Ark. Spark’s Ark offers safe, humane animal removal and relocation services. “This year has actually been pretty busy for me,” says Josh Sawyer. “My father decided he wanted to just work part-time, so I have taken over the business full-time!”

In his travels, Sawyer rescues many injured or abandoned animals. “I have been pretty busy catching all sorts of wild animals — including one skunk out of someone’s basement — and have encountered a few new animals to bring to our programs as well. A couple of new animals I got this year include a hedgehog and an African spurred tortoise, both of which I am hoping to bring to the Holiday Festival for Children to share with our young friends,” Sawyer said.

Opening for Rick Charette is Will Silvers of North Yarmouth. The young juggler is a junior at Greely High School in Cumberland, and said he has performed at several fund raisers this past year, and has juggled at both the Freeport Fourth of July parade and at the Yarmouth Clam Festival. He also performs and teaches juggling at local summer camps. He will bring a few new tricks to the festival, and will perform with fellow juggler, Jack Streeter. 

Rick Charette has had a super-busy year since he performed at last year’s festival.

He has continued to perform his music and songs for children and families throughout the Northeast and beyond — traveling to Battle Creek, Mich., during the summer to work with early childhood teachers and caregivers. He shared with them ways to actively integrate music into their programs. Charette also presented a family concert at a Battle Creek park, with Roy Clark joining him on keyboards.

Charette also ventured into the realm of barbershop quartets this past year, when several of his songs  — “Bubble Gum,” “I Love Mud,” “Grandpa’s Riding Lawnmower” and “A Moose Named Amos” — were published and will be included in the catalog of music for the National Barbershop Association. Two local quartets recently joined Charette to perform these arrangements for children and their families at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland.

Recently, Charette has begun recording his 12th CD of original songs for children. “This one is titled ‘Seven Ate Nine and will be released in 2014. I’m happy to announce I’ll include some of these newer tunes in my annual holiday show for Advocates for Children,” Charette said.

The Demonstration Team from Pelletier’s Karate Academy will share with the audience traditional karate forms. Senpai Per Almquist said the demonstration will show the use of traditional weapons and self-defense, as well as “adding a few exciting twists.” The team is composed of about two dozen kids and adults from the school who demonstrate both simple techniques taught to all students  and more advanced skills performed by only a few at the school. Following the passing of the school founder, Shihan Richard Pelletier, this past spring, the team and the school have continued under the leadership of senseis Ferdinand Torres, Sadie Landry and Matt Vattaso, each of whom had studied with Shihan Pelletier for more than 20 years.

Advance tickets are available this year at Shaw’s stores in Auburn and Lewiston, as well as at the Advocates for Children office, now located at 124 Canal St., Lewiston. Tickets in advance are $5 for children and $7 for adults. At the door, tickets will be $6 and $9, respectively. Coffee will be provided by Starbucks, and lunch items will be avail able from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more info about the event, call 783-3990 or go to www.advocatesforchildren.net.

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