I recently had an opportunity to attend my first auto race: The Honda Indy, which took place at Exhibition Place in Toronto. I had heard that they try and make auto races a family affair, but any time I asked any of my friends what I should expect, all anyone had to say was “take earplugs”.
While that advice definitely rang true (the buzz of the cars was deafening as soon as we parked our car outside the race grounds), I could not have been more pleasantly surprised by the wealth of family entertainment provided throughout the day.
All of the major sponsors had set up activities for kids.
Pizza Pizza had carnival games and a hands-on opportunity for kids to check out a small scale race car.
The Canadian Armed Forces had an interactive area for the kids to learn a bit of what our service men and women do in their daily duties. They were also part of the pre-race parade, including the Canadian Armed Forces Polar bear mascot. Who knew?
The Honda Indy pavilion was stocked full of opportunities to take photos with trophies, and race cars. And it seemed like at every turn there was another racing simulator for kids to try out.
Firestone had mocked up a race car version baby seat which left all the kids in hysterics, and their mascot Firehawk, helped keep things exciting for the kids when the lengthy trophy presentation rolled around.
There were so many other great things for the kids to enjoy. From the race car decked out to look like a giant Hot Wheels, to the auto tents where the kids could watch the pros tuning the cars up for the race, not a moment went by where they weren’t interacting with the whole racing atmosphere. While the race itself went by in a blur, it really was an entire day’s event.
Canadian tire may have taken the cake with their Canadian Tire Dollar Money Machine. A fan favourite that had young and old alike lining up to scramble around for 30 seconds of feverish delight.
True to the fairgrounds where the race took place there was no lack of kid friendly food. Hot dogs, roasted corn, cotton candy, pizza, and ice cream to name a few.
In retrospect, I’m so glad I went to check out the race. Next year, not only will I bring along ear plugs, but I’ll drag some more of my friends and their kids too. What a blast!
You can check out the rest of the pictures here.
By day, Gav is a VP of a software company. The rest of the time he is busy messing up people’s kitchens (and photographing the evidence), being a dad to 3 awesome kids, and husband to an all-star blogger.