Things are up close and personal at Parkway Plaza this year as the Easter Bunny is there for photos and Parkway Plaza’s Easter Eggstravaganza is hopping back in full swing this spring. Easter Bunny photos are happening now through April 16, and the Eggstravaganza is on Tuesday, April 12 from 1-3:30 p.m.
Parkway Plaza Marketing and Business Development Manager Petra Rich said everything is happening “right smack dab in center court” of the mall, and photos with the Easter Bunny are Monday – Saturday from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., and 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sundays.
“This year we are not doing any social distancing for the photos, so folks have that option if they would like, but they are allowed to sit next to the bunny, little kids can also sit on his lap, and that is free and open to everybody,” she said.
Rich said the Easter Eggstravaganza is going to be a “fun and exciting event” with students from four of Cajon Valley Union School District schools coming out.
“The teachers at the schools have collected a few students and do live painting of our four foot tall Easter eggs that we have in the mall,” she said. “After the competition is over, we will be posting photos on our Instagram (@visitparkwayplaza), and folks will be able to go on Instagram and vote for their favorite egg. The school winning the competition will receive a $500 donation to their art program. The four schools are Flying Hills, Johnson, Los Coches Creek, and Avocado elementary schools.”
Rich said since everyone cannot participate in the live egg painting event, there will be plenty of other opportunities for the other kids in attendance.
“We will be doing lots of fun Easter crafts, egg and bunny decorating, and we will also have face painting, a DJ onsite. What I am really excited about that we can do this year is having a Bunny Hop Sack Race, so it is very fun, nostalgic for me and I am sure a fun activity for all the kids that are in attendance,” she said. “El Cajon Parks and Rec Department will be out helping us with some of those crafts and the El Cajon Police Department will be helping the children from our four Cajon Valley schools paint their Easter egg. We are so excited to bring in so many community partners to make this happen. It is going to be great to have all this energy and fun in the mall, so we are very excited.”
Rich said in past years, they gave the Easter eggs to the schools to work on, and then let them bring them to the mall when they were done. But not this year.
“Since people have really missed this community connection and being able to be at live events for the past few years, it is really important for us this year, with all of our events that we have planned for the year, to create the space for folks to come in and enjoy community, enjoy being around people again. It was important to us to figure out how we could do this while folks could enjoy the community in a safe and fun way,” she said.
For more information visit https://visitparkwayplaza.com/event/eggstravaganza/, and to make reservations for Easter Bunny photos visit https:// amusemattebookbunny.com/parkway-plaza/.
