On a roll with Kinetic Fest

Sharks, bumblebees and boats were just some of the human-powered vehicles designed for last year's Kinetic Fest, hosted by Gizmo-cda.

Barbara Pleason Mueller, executive director of Gizmo, said anything can be turned into a vehicle and the idea of the Kinetic Fest is to make human-powered vehicles from any material available, such as old bike parts, wood and metal.

"We have an incredible set of tools at Gizmo and mentors who can help people," Mueller said.

Kinetic Fest takes place July 10 at McEuen Field.

Mueller said last year the Kinetic Fest had 30 entries, but she hopes they will have many more this year, since more people understand what the event is about.

She said they will have events at the festival where kids, or kids-at-heart, can build "outrageous" things out of robot parts and mutant toys. She said there will be a "huge wall" of gears — a public art piece anyone can be a part of. There will be an artist challenge, and the Snake Pit Roller Derby Dames will return this year as the "Kinetic Cops," who can determine whether a vehicle is mediocre. Mueller said the goal is not to be mediocre, and participants can try to change the mind of the "cop" who deems them as such.

This year Gizmo is adding a "decorate your bike day," where participants can decorate their vehicles or even their own bikes, because Mueller said they want to open it up to more people.

"It is definitely open to everybody," Mueller said. "As a matter-of-fact, we want to help facilitate people building, so in order to do that, we offer classes."

Two workshops will be held this month leading up to the festival for anyone interested in participating this year.

"Gears, Beers and Engineers," a workshop geared toward adults, is 7-9 p.m. April 22 at Gizmo. Mueller said there will be beer there, but parents can bring children.

The second workshop for the young builders is titled "Gears, Root Beers and Engineers." Kids can get together and share ideas from 1-3 p.m. April 23.

"It's a way of getting people to come together to see what tools they have, what parts they have — and come up with outrageous vehicles," Mueller said.

Gizmo-cda is located at 806 N. Fourth St. in Coeur d'Alene. For information call: 651-6200 or visit www.gizmo-cda.org.