They didn’t break the Guinness World Record, but thousands of people enjoyed a world-class water balloon fight at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.
The Operation Soak the City event unleashed 202,400 water balloons and drew about 3,000 people to the fairgrounds in a celebration of nonviolence in Stockton Saturday afternoon, said DeMar Johnson, chief executive of Balloons Over Bullets, one of the organizers.
Attendance didn’t hit 10,000 and balloons didn’t reach 209,000, the number necessary to break the record. But the youth and adults in attendance had a fun time pelting each other with water balloons, “choosing laughter and joy over violence,” Johnson said.
“The event is a symbol of peace for Stockton,” highlighting youth and the community, Johnson said. Soak the City has been held regularly since 2018 “to set the tone for the summer and encourage youth to hit the streets with positivity,” he said.
This year’s event featured food trucks, giant slip n’ slides, dunk tanks, water inflatables, games, and music. Appropriately enough to the event’s theme, the musician who wrote and recorded the popular “Soak City” song, rap artist 310babii, appeared at the event.
“We wanted to show kids in our city that if you buckle down, you can attain your goals and succeed,” Johnson said. Rapper 310babii has said he initially recorded “Soak City” on his phone in his bedroom.
“Anytime we get together the people bank on having a great time,” Johnson said. “We were able to give them exactly what they were expecting. A lot of people went home happy yesterday.”
