The bouncy house was a big attraction at the YMCA during the Austin and Mower County Kids Fest on Wednesday evening.

The Austin YMCA hosted its first Kids Fest to help area children be active and healthy and to show families the many kid and family friendly programs around the area.

For 3-year-old Ellie Nelson, the bouncy house was her favorite part. She attended the event with her mother, Tammy, and father, Gabe Nelson.

“We’re members with the Y, but we just came to check it out and because they usually have some fun events for kids,” Tammy said.

She was happy to receive information about the different programs around the area.

“[Ellie] seems to be enjoying herself, and it’s nice getting information,” Tammy said.

As children bounced in the bouncy house and ran from table to table, they also got to see different programs that Austin has to offer, something that excited Jaime Annis, the communications coordinator for the YMCA of Austin.

“We feel that there are so many great kid and family organizations in Austin and we wanted to get them all together to showcase,” Annis said.

Although there are many festivals in Austin, there hasn’t been anything to bring them all together and let community members know about them.

“We thought this would be a great event to do that,” Annis said.

She hoped the event would help families find programs they may not have known about or thought they couldn’t join. Annis said they have gotten good feedback from YMCA members and the community.

“[It’s a] great opportunity to just spread the word and help each other out,” Annis said.

Lauren Schmitt, 11, was excited to look into the Girl Scouts’ booth. She came with her two aunts, Kayla Meany and Kasi Loewe, sister Audra Schmitt, and cousins Brayden and Brooklyn Bairisky.

“To have some fun at the Y,” Lauren said when asked why she attended.

Lauren’s favorite activity of the night was bowling.

Her sister, Audra, 9, enjoyed the bouncy house, and was also excited to learn more about the Girl Scouts.

The girls’ cousin, Brayden, 7, enjoyed looking into the Boy Scouts, while his sister Brooklyn, 3, simply enjoyed the bouncy house.

For others, the event was about giving information to families. Seven-year-old Mishayla Ferguson and her sister, Delaney, 4, ran a table with their mom, Sara, for the skating club.

“[We came] to get others interested in the club,” Sara said.

For parents like Gita Kazokaitis, having the information about the different programs in one place was greatly appreciated.

“I’m looking forward to learning and grabbing some information here,” Gita said. “It’s about awareness of those programs.”

Gita attended the event with her 7-year-old daughter, Ema, whose favorite activity was, of course, the bouncy house.

Leaders hope to bring the event back in next spring. The free event featured several activities, including an obstacle course, a photo booth, crafts and a bouncey house in the tennis court area of the YMCA.

There was also free pizza and drinks, coupons and giveaways.

—Jason Schoonover contributed to this report