Summer Soiree is an in-person fundraiser held at Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach, CA. This event invites community partners, donor prospects, VIP members, corporate donors, and elected officials to engage with our museum's administrators and learn about the work we do.

Pretend City Children’s Museum is “the world in a nut-shell”, designed for children to learn how the real world works while engaging their curiosities and imaginations. The museum is a child-size interconnected city built to balance rich educational intention with boundless fun, where children can assume various real-world roles and let their creativity rule.

Through interactive exhibits and activities facilitated by our trained professional staff, children learn foundational math, reading and science skills while fostering curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. They see how academic concepts have real-life application by learning in our unique, hands-on environment.

On average we raise about $80,000 at this event through a public raffle, games, and pledges, to help fund our mission of ensuring that each child is ready for school success by providing real-world learning experiences that children need to develop essential foundational learning skills.