EGGstravaganza to return to Waterside Place in Lakewood Ranch

More than 8,000 eggs will be scattered throughout Waterside Park April 1 for Lakewood Ranch’s biggest egg hunt. 

Children ages 5 and younger will pick their spot along the edge of the sand volleyball court while children who are 6 years old and older will line the edges of the grass field.

Once the hunt begins at Lakewood Ranch Community Activities’ EGGstravaganza, it’s a mad dash to collect the most eggs possible. 

“My favorite part of the whole event is that moment when all the kids are lined up and are anxiously waiting for you to say, ‘Go,’” said Aliye Presley, the marketing and events manager for Lakewood Ranch Community Activities, which hosts the annual egg hunt. “That burst of them running to the eggs, I love it because it’s something that’s seen in 3 year olds and 12 year olds. I love the age range and how excited they all are.” 

EGGstravaganza is open to children who are 3 years old and older, but children who are younger than 3 can participate as long as they are accompanied by a parent, Presley said. 

“We don’t like to put an age limit on it,” she said. “A kid is a kid, and they should go for it.”

Before the hunt begins April 1, families will be able to enjoy face painting, music, a bounce house, photo opportunities and a food truck. The Sarasota County Fire Department will have a fire truck for children to check out and sit in the driver’s seat. 

The Easter bunny will make a grand entrance and take photos with children and their families before walking around during the hunt. 

This is the second year EGGstravaganza will be held at Waterside Park.

“We love it,” Presley said about Waterside Park. “It’s such a beautiful backdrop while also making it easy to see the entire space where the kids will be. We have a lot of volunteers that help make sure everyone stays in the designated area, and that’s just a little bit easier to handle at this park.”

Rather than enlisting volunteers to spend hours filling each plastic egg, this year Lakewood Ranch Community Activities chose to get the eggs through Ayers Family Plastic Eggs, a company based out of Georgia that hires people with special needs to fill the eggs with candy and toys. 

“As someone with family members with disabilities, it’s really cool to see a company that isn’t shying away from employing people like that but instead makes it a point to,” Presley said. “It was cool to support them and make it a little easier on us getting eggs.”

Presley said Lakewood Ranch Community Activities has egg sponsors this year who might provide fun, unique prizes for children to find. For example, at last year’s EGGstravaganza, there were large brown bunnies spread throughout the hunting areas with special prizes inside. 

The annual egg hunt has become tradition for Lakewood Ranch families. 

"That's the beauty of our signature events, just how ingrained it is in our community at this point," Presley said. "As much new things as we put out every year, getting back to our roots and what we're known for is so much fun, and being able to build on that every year and expand as we grow as a community is cool."

Presley said volunteers and Lakewood Ranch Community Activities staff spend hours spreading the eggs throughout the two egg hunt locations. Within 10 minutes, almost every egg, if not all of them, is collected in the hunt. Presley said volunteers and staff only found two eggs after the hunt last year.

“I love their spirit and how happy they are running around collecting all of their eggs,” Presley said. “It’s like a friendly competition seeing the siblings afterwards talking about who got the most and comparing their candy. The parents are so happy watching.”

Presley’s advice for the egg hunt is to don’t just go for the eggs closest to you.

“Go past where all the kids are going and go to those outer ranges,” she said. “You’ll have less people trying to pick them up.”