Massive Easter Egg Hunt Descends Into Madness, Ends in All-Out Brawl

By Mark Shrayber | April 6, 2015 | 7:50pm

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File Easter egg hunts under “things that parents ruin for everyone.” A massive egg search in Sacramento was supposed to break a world record for “the world’s largest Easter egg hunt” but the only award the event is winning is one in embarrassment and regret. And the record for crying toddlers whose fun was ruined by adults.

The hunt, which took place in California’s capitol, was supposed to break a record set in Florida in 2007. Upping the number of eggs from 501,000 to 510,000 was meant to have insured Sacramento’s victory, but problems plagued the event from beginning to end.

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From The Sacramento Bee:

As soon as the first eggs hit the ground, people of all ages lunged for the colorful plastic shells, scooping them up by the armful into oversized plastic bags and even laundry baskets. The dozen workers from organizer Blue Heart International, a Sacramento nonprofit, had intended a more orderly rollout, with egg seekers waiting for the signal to start.

Toddlers cried and parents pushed as they jockeyed for mostly empty plastic eggs, which later could be exchanged for candy.

First of all, that sounds like a shitty egg hunt. Who wants empty plastic eggs? That’s bullshit. If I were a kid I would feel very betrayed by the entire thing. Second of all, why were there so few volunteers? If the organization his 510,000 eggs and thousands of people showed up, wouldn’t it make sense to have more than 12 volunteers? Or at least some kind of barricade that prevented at least some bad behavior? Because they didn’t have any of that either.

Many attendees complained about the chaos surrounding the event. No barricades were used to prevent people from prematurely collecting the eggs, and organizers did not verify whether parents had tickets for the VIP hunt. A separate, free egg hunt took place nearby on the grounds of the Capitol.

“It was crazy,” said Kori Houser, whose toddler Chase picked up only three eggs. “Adults were trampling over us.”

According to The Bee, a board member screamed for everyone to follow “the honor system” throughout the hunt, but with so many people and possible candy involved, no one was interested. And then there was the fact that the egg hunt actually cost money. As opposed to a free hunt that took place nearby, the record-setting hunt cost $20 per person for a VIP ticket. This allowed participants to hunt for eggs that might then be exchanged for food prizes. I know that this probably isn’t the point, but if I had $20 to spare, I would probably choose to just buy myself breakfast instead of paying to hunt for eggs that could potentially score me one, along with a black eye.

The biggest disappointment? Due to the fact that the eggs were delivered late, the hunt wasn’t even eligible to be in competition for the world record. So people trampled toddlers for nothing!

The organization that hosted the event, Blue Heart International, won’t disclose how much money it made from the event (which was meant to draw attention to itself, according to The Bee), but it’s estimated that their profit was more than $100,000.