'Pop-Up' Events Attract Sacramento Children, Families On Friday Nights

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Eight youth "Pop-Up" events scattered throughout Sacramento gave children and their families a place to go for Friday night entertainment.

One of the events was held in South Sacramento at the River Oak Center for Children.

The Pop-Ups are part of Sacramento's response to several fights that broke out at the Arden Fair Mall late last year. In one case, 100 juveniles were involved.

"You gotta remember years ago, the City of Sacramento had a lot of cuts, so that led a lot of young people to kind of stray," Voices of the Youth founder Berry Accius said.

Pop-Up Events Held For Teens Across Sacramento In Effort To Prevent More Brawls At Mall

Accius organized the River Oak Center for Children Pop-Up, including free food, games, a DJ and dancing. He calls it an answer to children's cries to give them something more to do.

"Well the idea is to bring the community together," Accius said. "The idea is to have a safe place to have for kids to come to and adults to come to when there's nothing to do outside,"

Sacramento Councilmember Rick Jennings was at the Pop-Up event too, showing off his dance moves.

"It's important for the city to take a look at what venues we have that youth can participate in and make sure if there are not enough venues for them to be able to have a positive place to go and express themselves, that the city help create those working with our non-profit partners," Jennings said.

The events are funded through sponsorship dollars. They are scheduled to run through the month of June.