“We made like a trillion!” exclaimed 7-year-old Charlie Armondo from behind his lemonade stand, a wide grin on his face as his business partner, Declan Crane, declared, “We’re the best lemonade stand here.”

The two boys, both 7, were hard at work Saturday, July 26, during the annual Padanaram Summer Festival, hosted by the Padanaram Business Association. Their stand, which also featured cookies, stickers and tattoos, was just one of many booths run by local children.

In its third year at the Festival, the Kids’ Zone saw its highest participation yet, with about 30 kids signing up beforehand.

Declan explained their motivation simply: “So we can get a lot of money.” The pair haven’t yet settled on what to spend it on, but both agreed the top contender was new Pokémon cards, with Pikachu being their favorite.

Charlie helped his family build the stand from scratch, including using a saw himself for the first time. 

“We are killin’ it!” he said proudly.

Nearby, Jaiden Cruz, 10, was all smiles after making nearly $50 from selling an assortment of pens with fun designs. 

“We’ve done this a couple times when we were living in New Bedford,” said his mother, Vanessa Mendoza. “Since we moved, we wanted to be a part of the community.”

Now going three for three in her Kids’ Zone participation, 9-year-old Brynn Silva put her experience to good use while selling her customized clips and fanny packs. Though she started with a dozen packs, only two were remaining toward the end. 

Silva said she’s a big fanny pack fan, with two of her own at home: “Because say that you have a bunch of stuff and can’t carry it all, you can just put it in there.”

However, Silva loves the social aspect of the event as much as the sales. “Like the whole entire town comes … so you get to talk to friends and see them,” she said. “I also like the dances they put on because my friend’s in dance and she did really good.”

Harper Cox, 9, and her 7-year-old sister, Willow, had a booth selling bandana bracelets, flower crafts and also offering glitter tattoos with stencils. 

Harper said it was her first year running a booth, though her mom and aunt have sold at festivals before. 

In addition to the Kids’ Zone, the festival featured more than 80 vendors, food trucks, music and family-friendly entertainment. Shoppers filled the village, browsing handmade goods, jewelry and treats while enjoying the charm of Padanaram.

“It’s a lot bigger than last year,” said Ashley Salvazor of Dartmouth. “It’s nice and safe.”

For some attendees, it was their first time experiencing the festival.

“I like it. There’s a lot of things,” said 11-year-old Peyton, who has grown up in Dartmouth, but never made it to the festival until recently moving further south. 

Her mother, Emily Snell, added, “A lot of people turned out for this. It’s great to see the community get involved and come down here.” 

Both admired all of the booths that lined Elm Street:  “A lot of creativity, you can tell, goes into it,” Emily said.

Others, like Austin Russell, have made the event a tradition. His father, David Russell, runs the Padanaram Business Association, and his family along with the Davenport family have run a bakesale and fundraiser booth for the Jimmy Fund Walk and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for the past 15 years.

“We’re raising over $2,000 a year typically in this event,” Austin said. “That goes a really long way for cancer research.”

First-timer Mike Mahoney, who lives in Dartmouth, said he was impressed. “There’s some really lovely things,” he said. “I bought a really nice necklace for my sister for her birthday and met a lot of nice dogs and a lot of nice people.”

Perhaps the most enthusiastic festival-goer of all was Nina Salvazor, 5, who shouted, “Guess what? It’s my birthday today!” She was standing in line for unicorn face paint before heading off to celebrate with a pool day.

Though a close second in celebration may have been Elizabeth Schwartz, who opened her very first storefront in conjunction with the festival at 1 Bridge Street. Seagrass Studio offers needlepoint and hand-made jewelry.