Slime-goo fun comes to central Illinois this weekend: Capital City Fest opens Friday

Send a link to a friend  Share

[November 02, 2018]   On November 2nd and 3rd, slime-goo is going to be the highlight for teens at the Capital City Fest.

If you're an adult reading this, then maybe you aren't familiar with this fun popular activity that you can share with your kids. Slime-goo is relaxing and soft and colorful. When you push it in, it is called ASMR, because it is simply "satisfying" when you hear the sounds it makes, says Carie Groves of Lincoln. Google ASMR and you can hear it pop!

Groves, owner of the McIntire Maytag store in Lincoln, and her friend Chris (middle name 'Slime') Cleeton of Atlanta, will be hosting the Capital City Fest in Springfield.

The Fest will be held at the Presidential Abraham Lincoln Hotel - A Double Tree by Hilton. A gorgeous Ballroom is reserved for the Fest activities starting Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.



What you will find at the fest, "75% is kids selling goo at the fest at about $10 per 8 ounce," said Grove. What will be exciting is on Saturday you can make your own slime at the Trading Zone, which is sponsored by Landmark Jeep Chrystler. "You can name it and put your Instagram account on the container and trade it," said Groves.

Eight 'Celebrities' and eight 'Rising Stars' will be at the Fest to trade goo with. In the slime world, there are followers of Celebrities who have the most popular slime and trades across the U.S. On Instagram there can be over 50 thousand followers to one Celeb. If you have under that amount of followers you are what is called a Rising Star.

Groves said, "Celebrities were contacted through Instagram and are coming from California, Las Vegas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri." "Some have over 150,000 followers. Some have a million followers on Instagram. What makes them popular is how good their slime is, how good they make their goo and how their relations are with others," said Groves. She and Cleeton plan on having 500 kids at the Capital City Fest buying and trading goo with the Celebrities and Rising Stars.

Throughout the day the Fest will have:

- Demonstrations of goo by Celebrities.

- A question and answer time will be available to the kids to ask Stars how they make certain goo/slime.

- A competition will be held and ticket holders can bring an 8 oz. container of goo to be judged by Celebs. Three categories of different consistencies will be judged.

- There will be prizes given.

- Scheel's has donated free ferris wheel rides in the goody bags Groves and Cleeton will be handing out to the kids.

- Three different kinds of goo will also be sold from $5 to $10. You can pick: soft and crunchy with beads in it, a clear Capital City Night Sky, or Capital City Blizzard; a safeflo of white and blue glitter.

[to top of second column]

- At the Fest you can purchase from Happy Kawaii Supplier ingredients additives like charms to put into your goo to make it crunchy.

- Raffles and a prize wheel will be spinning to win prizes at the Fest!

- Join the 30 second goo making contest. Judges will look for the best consistency of goo.

This year Groves's daughter and Cleeton's granddaughter took 200 goos to the Chicago Fest to trade. They came home with a rolling case plus a bag of goo. There were two conventions - one held by Nickelodeon and the other was not as well known that was called 'Slimers in the City' that two 12 and 13 year olds organized. While there, Groves and Cleeton decided to start a fest of their own. They felt they could facilitate it much better and have it nearby where they lived. “When we get a hair, we start things…and that is how this all started,” said Groves.

If Capital City has a big turn out, they plan to take the Fest to places like Indianapolis, to kids who have Instagrammed and want to trade goo. "Instagram is a big slime area where all of the kids can be and talk and have videos," said Groves, "we have 1,170 followers. They share with their followers; thus, we get five to 10 followers a day," said Groves.

"In the 1980's, slime became popular," said Groves. "It started on the Double Dare television show." Now she says it is popular in New York, on the East Coast, the West Coast, and in Florida. Goo is a substance that can be made at home. Cleeton said you can make a base mix with Elmer's glue and tide or try borax laundry detergent. To make it silky soft add some lotion or baby oil. To make it fluffy like a cloud add some shaving cream. You can use different food coloring too. Use saflo activator or contact solution to make a putty texture. Cleeton said to take care of your goo by washing your hands so it doesn't mold. When it melts and gets sticky, Groves said to add activator and borax.

Google slime or queen slime and you will find a huge creation of goo like Queen Slime named banana split, chocolate, and vanilla and much more. Some have added beads or smiley faces in the slime to make it crunchy.

Collecting and trading goo is something you don't want to miss!

Parents must accompany their kids to the Capital City Fest. Mega passes sold out early, but there were other options still open. $45 Saturday event passes for Mega Blasters to get in an hour early at 10 a.m. Regular Funday passes for $25 that let you in at 11 a.m. Get online at www.EVENTBRITE.com for more parent ticket information.

There is a lot to do with goo and if you are a starter, anywhere from age 12 to 15 and up, go to the Capital City Fest and begin your collection and take photos with Celebrities of goo at the Meet & Greet on Friday. Put your photos on Facebook or Instagram and you are on your way to become a Rising Star!


[Catherine Carkulis]

 

Back to top