BINGHAMTON – The Department of Public Art is inviting children and adults to “come paint with us” at the 5th annual Mural Fest taking place Saturday at Cheri Lindsey Park in Binghamton.

The DPA is partnering with CARES, an educational advocacy group, and the City of Binghamton to hold the event.

Rather than paint a mural on a structure, adults and teens will be asked to paint-in six different fabric panels that will later be assembled into a mural at nearby Roosevelt Elementary.

The kids will be able to paint a box city, made up of large cardboard appliance boxes and featuring dogs and dinosaurs.

Organizer Peg Johnston says that DPA has created more then two dozen outdoor murals since its founding in 2012.

“Public art shows that creative people live here. It’s like an announcement, ‘Come join us, cool people live here.’ We’re happy to continue to do murals. There’s a lot of surfaces so I don’t think we’ll be done anytime soon,” she says.

There will be food vendors, organizations tabling and live music from Adam Ate the Apple, Voodoo Highway and the Ithaca-based reggae band Bead n Bone.

The event runs from noon until 4:00 pm.

From 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, CARES and the city will be giving away 250 new backpacks filled with school supplies to children who live in Binghamton.

They will also hold a free ice cream social.