Family Fun at ArtPrize: STEAM Playground, Gaming, and Robotics
Would you like to add a free STEAM-Based Playground for Kids, a Super Smash Bros Tournament, and a Robotics Expo to your ArtPrize experience?
You can!
Just head to downtown Grand Rapids on September 22 & 23, 2023 to enjoy Confluence Fest. It’s a free festival with drones, rockets and even a robot street parade, held at the same time as ArtPrize.
What You Need to Know:
A Festival Where Art, Music, Science, & Technology Come Together
The Confluence Festival at Rosa Parks Circle is your go-to destination for curious and innovative people interested what happens when technology + art come together.
If you’re fascinated by innovative arts, want to get hands-on or see what other are doing with technology, this is your festival.
If you like drones, rockets, eSports, building things, or experimental music, this is your festival.
If watching yourself on screen at the giant digital playground, while a robot parade marches past sounds really cool, this is your festival.
What happens at Confluence Festival?
The Festival has six areas to explore, and there’s something exciting to do everywhere you look. Bring your family to enjoy lots of hands-on activities and cool inventions that everyone will love.
Some of the things to look forward to:
- Head to the arts & crafts area to decorate your own robot wrap and see your creation come to life on a real robot.
- Explore flight with the top aviation organizations in the region.
- Try your own hand at Super Smash Bros battles (and other games) that will be running alongside the official tournament on the big screen. This special free-play area is free and available to everyone.
Confluence Festival Schedule
Friday, Sept 22, 2023
Music Showcases
Listen to musicians test the limits of instrumentation to create exuberant sonic soundscapes.
5 PM: Outdoor music, food, drinks, and vendors
7 PM: Performances by Au Gres and Fox Royale
Saturday, Sept 23
The Future Innovators Zone
10 AM – 6 PM: A STEAM-based playground for kids of all ages. Various educational booths
Robotics Expo & Parade
Design your own robot shell and watch it come to life on a robot. See top middle and high school teams show off their own creations.
10 AM–1 PM: Morning Expo
1 PM–1:30 PM: Robot Street Parade
1:30 PM–4:30 PM: Afternoon Expo
Innovation Showcase
10 AM-6 PM: Watch the eSports tournament and try your hand at your own Super Smash Bros battle skills in the open play area.
Maker Expo
10 AM-6 PM: Various hands-on stations and Shop the DIY maker community. With Amped Virtual Reality, Brandiwine, Ferris State University, Grand River Makerspace, Julia Hope Art, KCAD, Lorelei Lewis Design
Art@
10 AM-10 PM: A 360º urban space takeover that will transform Rosa Parks Circle into an interactive dreamscape of movement, sound and light with 30+ works by Brian Alexander.
Confluence Festival Highlights
When is Confluence Festival?
Saturday, Sept 23, 2023, 10 AM – 10 PM with the Inaugural Music Summit on Friday, Sept 22, from 5 – 10 PM.
Where is Confluence Festival?
Rosa Parks Circle: 135 Monroe Center St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Come Expand Your Imagination at Confluence Fest!
In its third year, each year of the Confluence Festival is different, but the focus is always on removing borders and expanding minds.
Come see what they’ve got up their sleeves in 2023. And plan on your kids not wanting to leave until they’ve tried it all!
