This year it was on July 1, Friday. I am not sure if it is held on the same day every year. The full name of the event is Splash ‘n’ Sparks Appreciation Extravaganza. UTEP has arranged this event for the 18th time this year; that is, it has been 17 years since the first Splash ‘n’ Sparks was held. Kudos to everyone who arranged the event year after year. The event is like a fair except that there is not much business aspect of it. This is a big family event. We got a chance to attend two years in a row including this year. I think, only employees of UTEP, their families, relatives, and friends can attend. Employees receive complimentary tickets for their immediate family members. The tickets include entrance and food coupons. Tickets need to be purchased on site for relatives and friends who are not living under the same roof as the employee. We are not telling the reader whether we attended the  Splash ‘n’ Sparks as UTEP employees or as relatives/friends of an employee. Either way, the experience will remain as exciting.

The event is held inside and around the UTEP Student Recreation Center. The address is 3450 Sun Bowl Dr, El Paso, TX, 79902.  The event started at 5:30 PM this year. Of course, parking was an issue like any other event. We reached there before 5:30 PM. We were able to park near the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and Kern Drive. People coming later than we had to park further away. The event parking map was already published on the internet. The map is provided below.

Crossing the Sun Bowl Dr. for a family with little kids could be trouble. Thanks to the nice police officers who were controlling the traffic at that time to help all the families cross the road.

We collected the food (burgers, hotdogs, chips, drinks, and water) from the food court and ate them before any activity. In the last few years, we learned that keeping our toddler well-fed is mandatory if we want him and us to enjoy any event. Anyway, we started to visit the stalls around. Many of the stalls were in a street by the UTEP Student Recreation Center.

Another part of the Splash ‘n’ Sparks event was in the University (Soccer) Field. Several of the activities were in the field. We were excited to see the green grass but soon we figured out that the soccer field itself had synthetic grass but the surrounding area was covered by real grass. However, synthetic grass was not able to take away the excitement.

A few of the activities in the Splash ‘n’ Sparks Appreciation Extravaganza are described below with pictures.

Slip and Slide: This is a long plastic sliding place. The other end of the slide had water to capture the body of the sliding person. We saw one boy sliding. Not too many people were interested although the slip and slide looked very tempting.

Water balloon splash: This was comparatively a more crowded place than the other activities on this street (Slip and Slide, and Velcro Wall). Kids were smashing the water balloons and enjoying the splash.

Velcro wall: The velcro wall was empty when we went there. This could be because it was a bit intimidating for little kids. Definitely, teens enjoy such a wall more than toddlers.

An interesting business model for kids: There were a few booths where children could play a few games to earn synthetic money. The activities included fishing plastic-fish from water using a magnetic fishing pole, ring tossing, and bowling. Our son was not an expert at any of these activities. However, he enjoyed the magnetic fishing activity. He was able to earn some synthetic bucks at every booth. Since this is a family event, the attendants at the stalls were probably instructed to give reward to all the kids even if someone does not win. By the way, I think all/most of the booth-attendants were UTEP students. Kids could redeem the synthetic earnings at another booth for toys like whistles, springs, balls, plastic ducks, and other items. Our son was able to secure a plastic ball which he adores till date (three days after the event when I am writing this sentence).

Bungee run: In bungee running, a person runs as far as possible while she/he is connected to an elastic rope, which is anchored to a fixed point. The activity was built on inflatable courses. Kids were enjoying it a lot and the place was quite crowded reflecting the level of fun they were having.

Bounce house: The bounce house at the Splash ‘n’ Sparks event became the main attraction of many of the toddlers. There were inflated animals inside the house. More colorful animals were placed at the surrounding base, making the house an attractive place.

Many families were playing softball, freezby, and soccer. There was also a sack race event. The entire Splash ‘n’ Sparks was full of loud music. It was a festive environment. We found a few of our friends and their families. We had short conversations with all of them.

The weather was becoming a bit rough. The sky became cloudy quickly and we could feel the moist in the air. We thought that it would be a good idea to head toward our car. On our way back to the parking, we saw the large flag, which was hanging from the big ladder of a fire truck, blowing in the wind. It was an amazing scene. The picture we have provided in this post does not do a justice in expressing that beauty.

It took us around seven to eight minutes to reach our car. It started to rain heavily the moment we got into the car. It rained for around half an hour. We drove back home in the rain.

A “Fireworks” event after the sundown always justifies the “Sparks” part of the Splash ‘n’ Sparks. We were not there to see the fireworks. This is not because of the rainfall but because we have a toddler for whom routine is a crucial thing. There is a large indoor pool in the Student Recreation Center. People attending the Splash ‘n’ Sparks event could go there and swim. We didn’t because we enjoyed the outdoor activities more. An item that we expected but was not there in the Splash ‘n’ Sparks this year was the watermelon eating competition. It was exciting to see this  competition last year. In fact, I was planning to participate in this competition this year. Attendance to the watermelon eating contest was free last year. Who won’t like a few free slices of watermelon? 🙂

The Splash ‘n’ Sparks this year was pretty amazing. We enjoyed it a lot. Based on what information our memory is providing, the event last year was more crowded and cheerful. Thanks to all the organizers of the Splash ‘n’ Sparks events this year, last year, and any year before for their extra-ordinary efforts.

Settle in El Paso team

Subscribe to receive our newsletters and notifications on new posts. Your email address is safe with us. It will not be distributed to any third-party.

Name

Email*