Costa Mesa gets hopping with springtime events this Saturday

Local residents looking to swing into spring need look no further than the city of Costa Mesa, where two seasonal festivals are set to arrive on Saturday.

An inaugural city-sponsored SpringFest takes place Saturday at Lions Park, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Hosted by the Parks and Recreation Services Department, the event will feature games and inflatables, face painting and a chance to pose for photos with a Spring Bunny.

Monique Villasenor, Costa Mesa’s recreation manager, said the new event will allow the community to enjoy the park’s newly renovated event lawn and other improvement projects completed since the pandemic began.

A free city-sponsored SpringFest takes place Saturday at Lions Park, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

(City of Costa Mesa)

“There are a lot of people who haven’t even seen the new lawn,” she said. “We’re heading into summer and the recreational busy season, so we really want to make use of the area, the park and the lawn and try some new things.”

A series of “egg scrambles” give kids ages 2 to 9 a chance to collect prizes, with a session for kids 2 to 4 taking place at 10:30 a.m., a hunt for 5- to 6-year-olds at 11 a.m. and a third, for those ages 7 to 9, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Participants may also enjoy musical entertainment from the popular group Kids Imagine Nation, slated to deliver an interactive performance for kids and families at 11:30 a.m.

Also in Costa Mesa Saturday, from 9 a.m. to noon, Torelli Realty hosts its annual “Egg-Citement Easter Celebration” at Tanager Park, a tradition that dates to the formation of the company in 1986.

Costa Mesa Realtor Valerie Torelli poses with the Easter Bunny during a 2019 Egg-Citement event at Tanager Park.

(Courtesy of Torelli Realty)

The event features photos with the Easter Bunny, a bounce house, local cheerleading and dance performances, music, treats and egg hunts for children, according to Realtor Ryann Knapp.

“We rope off a big area and throw out eggs and toys and candy,” Knapp said. “We try our best to organize people by age, then it’s a free for all from there.”

Since 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic keeping most spring events shuttered, Realtor Valerie Torelli and her team got creative, first offering a neighborhood parade that allowed people to see the Easter Bunny and springtime fanfare from the comfort and safety of their homes.

Valerie Torelli held a socially distanced Easter parade in 2020, after her annual Egg-Citement event was canceled.

(Susan Hoffman)

Last year offered a live scavenger hunt among Costa Mesa parks, where participants could find and photograph giant egg structures to win prizes.

Now that most pandemic restrictions have been lifted, organizers of this year’s event are delighted to bring the festivities back to an in-person format on the city’s Mesa Verde neighborhood.

“We tried to pull out all the stops, since we haven’t had one in person since 2019” said Knapp, 31, who himself attended as a child and now sees former attendees coming back years later as parents. “It’s a cool tradition and an awesome community event.”

Lions Park is located at 1845 Park Ave. Tanager Park is located at 1780 Hummingbird Drive.

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