FARMINGTON - A few thousand people of all ages cast aside winter blues on a chilly Saturday for a few hours of free indoor fun at the 25th annual Children's Festival.

Many, like Desmond Carleton and Melissa Cushman of Farmington, were repeat participants at the Franklin County Children's Task Force event inside the Student Center at the University of Maine at Farmington.

"It's just wonderful," Cushman said, standing beside Carleton. They both watched their two children, Tucker, 7, and Oaklee, 3, decorate a cup of vanilla ice cream and a cookie with confections.

"We love it. The kids have a blast," Carleton added 2½ hours into their visit.

They and many other families were in South Dining Hall, which was awash with laughing children, balloons and activity.

"We come here every year. This is Tucker's fourth year and Oaklee's third. It's grown a lot bigger than it used to be. Even in the things they offer, they offer way more than before. We're usually here two hours," Carleton said.

Billed as an opportunity for families to have a day of free activities, the festival resembled one large, widespread party scene, jam-packed with educational entertainment, karaoke and even a big-screen Nintendo Wii.

Cushman said she liked not having to pay for anything, other than pocket change for an ice cream, pizza, popcorn, water or juice.

"We're the only festival in the state that doesn't charge an entrance fee and we couldn't do it without the help of our sponsors, who are there for us year after year," task force Executive Director Renee Blanchet said, taking a break from scooping ice cream.

She said she was pleasantly surprised at the larger-than-normal crowd. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"Usually by 2 o'clock, things slow down and people have filtered out, but we're still packed. ... I bet we had 1,500 kids here," Blanchet said at 2 p.m.

"We had one of the best turnouts in years today," task force board member Bill Crandall added.

Among the new offerings, were, Windham magician Dennis Labbe and a hard-to-get-past-without-taking-more-than-one-piece of maple taffy on Popsicle sticks in snow at a booth just outside the main entrance off South Street. That sweet treat was offered by the Maine Maple Association, which demonstrated the taffy-making process.

Aside from Farmington wildlife rehabilitator Jim Parker dressed as a wizard and wandering through venues with a live owl perched on his arm, another oddity that generated equal stares of mouths-wide-open wonder from small children was Kathleen Welch's Ecotheater.

Ecotheater is an interactive use of theater, humor and Mardi Gras-like animal-head masks, which Welch's husband, Alan McGillivray, makes for use as props. These helmets included a giant cow, loon, doe, buck and chicken.

Surrounded by the animated menagerie and volunteer thespians, Welch, garbed in bright green leotards and a long flowery dress, introduced the 20-minute skit as "Field of Dreams and Beans."

The improvisational performance fleshed out a fairy tale based on the life and hardships of a Franco-American farming family in Jay, complete with a soundtrack of sing-along music in French.

"It's so much fun," Welch said after portraying a giant bean sprout and hosting a trivia contest about Maine farm-grown foods. "It's fun to just see what the kids can do when you grab them off the floor and get them involved. It's a great way to educate young people to the arts, especially about health."