LEGO fans of all ages converged over the weekend at Brick Fest Live in Grayslake at the Expo Hall of the Lake County Fairgrounds and Event Center.
An estimated 4,000 people attended over the two days of the event, according to Gilbert Delgado, the floor manager for Brick Fest Live.
It is a nationwide, year-round touring show that promotes, “parents building with the kids, Delgado said. “It opens their imagination.
“A lot of people meet here and become friends just because they have similar interests,” he added.
Popular builder trends include holiday-themed LEGO sets.
“The bouquets are really hot now,” Delgado said. “All the different flowers. They have the succulent collection, all kinds of roses, for Valentine’s (Day). It was really popular.”
More than one million bricks were at the Grayslake show, he said.
Attractions included the Giant Brick Pit, where children were seen making LEGO angels by fanning their arms. Builders could make pinewood derby-style cars and have their creations raced competitively down tracks.
There was also an architecture area where renowned monuments were on display. Included was the interactive Floorsaic mosaic, with 116,352 bricks.
“Kids, they amaze me a lot of the time, the natural abilities they have,” Delgado said. “You see them building LEGO towers to buildings … the architects and engineers of the future.”
People took photos of oversized LEGO structures, including a cyclops and a mythical multi-headed hydra.
LEGO master Nestor Garcia of Pennsylvania, a celebrity on the LEGO circuit who appeared on the first season of Fox’s “LEGO Masters,” made an appearance.
LEGO bricks can instill the educational principles of STEM or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), Garcia said.
“It’s very important because of the fact that when they start at a very early age, they get into the habit of doing something that’s very constructive and very positive in their life,” he said. “Then they’ll grow into teenagers, then into an adult, they turn out to be engineers.
“LEGO contributes to using their brain, using their skills and motivating them into being a better person,” Garcia said.
As a family, Mel and Maria Djurdjevic of Hoffman Estates contributed to a LEGO graffiti wall with children Kris, 7, Aleks, 11, and Luka, 12.
Maria Djurdjevic, a Des Plaines fourth-grade educator, said LEGO teaches, “spatial awareness, everything, using their art, their imagination.”
Luka said, “My room is basically a LEGO trap. Everywhere, it’s all over the place.”
When asked if LEGO bricks have ever found their way into a vacuum cleaner, his mother said with a smile, “Oh yes, many times, and (I’ve) stepped on many LEGOs as well.”
Liam Carney, 6, of Gurnee, spent considerable time in the circular Giant Brick Pit.
On the sidelines were Liam’s family, parents Joe and Brandy, and sister Emma, 17.
“I was obsessed with LEGOs growing up,” Emma Carney said. “I actually probably have, like, three full bins of LEGOs from sets I’ve collected over the years.”
Her father said she is “still obsessed.”
“I am,” she agreed. “Now I have an obsession with the flower sets. I like to build the succulents, the roses, and I like architecture, so those are some sets that I would like to get.
“I would love to build probably either the Parthenon or the Roman Coliseum,” Emma Carney continued. “I am a STEM kid. I actually plan to major in biology, so I love the fact that you can use LEGOs to model pretty much anything.”
Brandy Carney said, “What I love about LEGO is the fact that they can just kind of go into their own space and be incredibly creative. I definitely advocate for that with trying to find different styles of LEGOs that they like.
“We absolutely love it,” she said.
See other Brick Fest Live tour locations at: https://www.brickfestlive.com/bfl-home55472561.
