Year After Year

The FALL FESTIVAL has been a long-standing event at Mission Arlington^®, and it has been so much fun to host each year.  It started years ago as a way of providing family-friendly events during the Halloween season, and it just grew into what it has become today. This year, even during a year of a full scale pandemic, we still had 1,243 children (with families) attend this event.

Family Friendly Fun

Bouncy houses, carnival games, hay rides and freshly cooked food form the basis of the experience, but the heart of the event is for our community’s families to receive personal care while they build memories for themselves in a safe, fun, and memorable setting.  Year after year, this event seems to do just that.

Free of Charge

One thing we are especially proud of is that this event is “Free of Charge,” as everything is which Mission Arlington^® provides.  Tickets aren’t required to get in. There isn’t any charge for the food which we cook fresh on site that morning. The games and rides are free, and the kids receive big bags of great prizes with each carnival booth, and then also a bag of delicious candy before they leave.  We are so grateful also to provide free transportation from many locations across our community, so that they can experience this event.

Because of You

We are so grateful for the community support which makes all of this possible.  So many individuals, families, civic groups, schools, and business teams purchased, collected, and delivered candy to us, so that we could give it away.  We hope you know how much that simple act meant to the children and their parents.  Others took the candy and spent dedicated time from home placing the candy into bags.  Still others gave up their Saturday to volunteer, to unload boxes of food, to cook hotdogs, to stand at bouncy houses, pick up trash, help people feel welcome.  It was a beautiful site to see, and we can’t express our gratefulness enough. Thank you.

A Different Kind of Festival

This year’s festival was COVID-19 adjusted. We moved every part of the festival outside this year, creating wide open spaces between events.  Every adult and every child (except the very young ones) wore masks, and no one seemed to mind. We took temperatures of every participant before they got on a bus with us, and limited space on buses and every event at the festival (from bouncy houses to hay rides) so that everyone could properly socially distance.  Typically this event draws about 2,500 children, so we know that attendance was down this year, but we are still glad we were able to host it.  Families who needed to stay home this year could do so (and anticipate next year), and those who just needed/wanted to get out could do so safely.

We are so very grateful for the privilege we have of “sharing God’s love” with families across our community, day by day, year after year.  We love so much the privilege of doing it together.  Please come by when you can. Keep praying, and together we can make a difference – one life, one family at a time.