Thousands of LEGO enthusiasts make memories at Brick Fest

LEGO fans of all ages gathered at the Lake County Fairgrounds and Events Center Expo Hall at Brick Fest Live in Grayslake over the weekend.

According to Gilbert Delgado, Brick Fest Live’s floor manager, an estimated 4,000 people attended the event over two days.

It’s a nationwide, year-round touring show that encourages parents to build with their 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.

“Bouquets are really hot now,” Delgado said. “All different flowers. They had a succulent collection of all kinds of roses for Valentine’s Day. It was really popular.”

He said there were more than a million bricks at the Grayslake fair.

Attractions included the Giant Brick Pit, where children made LEGO angels by fanning their arms. Builders could create derby-style cars from pine wood and have their creations raced competitively on tracks.

There was also an architecture area where famous monuments were exhibited. An interactive Floorsaic mosaic consisting of 116,352 bricks was also included.

“Children often surprise me with the natural talents they have,” Delgado said. “You see them building LEGO towers on buildings… future architects and engineers.”

People took photos of large-scale LEGO structures, including a cyclops and the legendary multi-headed hydra.

Pennsylvania-based LEGO master Nestor Garcia, one of the celebrities on the LEGO circuit, appeared in the first season of Fox’s “LEGO Masters” program.

Garcia said LEGO bricks can instill the educational principles of STEM or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).

“This is very important because when they start at a very early age, they get into the habit of doing something very constructive and very positive with their lives,” he said. “Then they’ll turn into teenagers, then they’ll turn into adults, and they’ll turn out to be engineers.

“LEGO helps them use their brains, use their skills and motivate them to be a better person,” Garcia said.

As a family, Mel and Maria Djurdjevic of Hoffman Estates contributed to a LEGO graffiti wall with their children Kris, 7, Aleks, 11, and Luka, 12.

Des Plaines fourth-grade educator Maria Djurdjevic said LEGO teaches “spatial awareness, using everything, arts and imagination.”

Luka says, “My room is basically a LEGO trap. Everywhere, everywhere.”

When asked if LEGO bricks had gotten into the vacuum cleaner, her mother said with a smile: “Oh yes, many times and (I’ve) stepped on many LEGOs too.”

Liam Carney, 6, of Gurnee, spent a lot of time in the circular Giant Brick Pit.

On the sidelines were Liam’s family, parents Joe and Brandy and his 17-year-old sister Emma.

“Growing up, I was obsessed with LEGOs,” Emma Carney said. “I actually probably have three boxes full of LEGO from sets I’ve collected over the years.”

His father said he was “still obsessed.”

“I am,” he admitted. “I’m now obsessed with flower sets. I love making succulents, roses, and I love architecture, so those are some sets I’d like to get.

“I’d probably love to build the Parthenon or the Roman Colosseum,” Emma Carney continued. “I am a STEM kid. “I’m actually planning on majoring in biology, so I love the fact that you can use LEGOs to model just about anything.”

Brandy Carney said: “What I love about LEGO is that they can kind of go into their own space and be incredibly creative, and I definitely advocate for that by trying to find different styles of LEGO that they like.

“We absolutely love it,” he said.

See other Brick Fest Live tour locations at: https://www.brickfestlive.com/bfl-home55472561.