Kiddo! Carnival Kicks Off With a Bang

When you revive an event for the first time in eight years, there's some trepidation that it will rekindle its previous spirit.

The Mill Valley Carnival appears to be having no such problem.

Organizers said Saturday that they sold more than 2,300 pre-sale ticket books to the Carnival on the basketball courts at the Mill Valley Middle School. The event is a fundraiser for Kiddo!, which has committed to raising $2.7 million this year to support arts, technology and, for the first time, physical education in the Mill Valley School District's six schools.

"The turnout has been fantastic," Carnival organizer Jim Wickham said, noting that the event "has been packed" since the gates opened at 12 p.m. Saturday.

The Carnival kicked off Friday afternoon with Middle School student given free reign as a thank you for the impact the Carnival had on their campus over the past several days.

The Carnival, which was last held in Mill Valley in 2004 as a Tam High fundraiser, continues Saturday and Sunday 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Monday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Ticket books are $25. Food and games are extra. It includes 17 rides, from the Berry-Go-Round and Tune Train for little ones to the Sizzler, Zipper, Tilt-A-Whirl and Texas Tornado, arrived on wheels from the Sacramento-based California Carnival Company.

The weekend-long event culminates Monday. The Memorial Day events kick off with the from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. outside the main fire station and City Hall on Corte Madera Avenue.

The , whose theme this year is “Our Kids, Our Schools, Our Future,” kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at , winding its way through downtown and down Miller Ave. before ending at . (Click here for info about applying for a float in the parade and additional details.)

When the float riders, school bands, dignitaries and a bevy of youth groups head to the Community Center after the parade, they’ll have a slew of activities to navigate.

That includes a free  on the fields of the  from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, Danny Click & the Hell Yeahs, The 85's, local teen phenom  and the Mill Valley Middle School Jazz Band are all set to perform at the concert. That event, being organized by the owners of the , will also feature beer and wine from other local vendors.