'World’s largest bounce house' lands in Santa Rosa

At 10,500 square feet and 32 feet tall, The Big Bounce America lays claim to the title of “largest bounce house in the world.”

And this weekend, the quarter-acre inflated attraction is making its California debut at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

Scores of young children and grown-ups, some with babes in arms, were on hand Friday to take first crack at the fun, filling the huge space with a footloose, carefree energy.

“I like it a whole lot,” Kawana Springs first-grader Jorge Vega, 6, said as he slid over the side of a low mound of inflated vinyl, then ran unsteadily away to explore someplace else.

Completed in June and currently on the eighth stop of a nationwide tour that heads next to Bakersfield and San Diego, the colorful playground was inspired by the inflatable jumpy houses commonly rented for children’s birthdays and other occasions.

But it’s open to the sky and so large that dozens of people can play at the same time.

Its sheer size was the biggest surprise, said Santa Rosa third-grader Kenley Hirsch, age 7.

“I didn’t think it would be this big,” Hirsch said. “I thought it would just be a couple of the regular ones.”

Features inside the stocking-feet-only structure invite kids to scramble over obstacles courses, skid down several different slides, climb on inflated figures, shoot baskets and bounce against giant beach balls. There are ball pits and a plethora of beach balls scattered throughout, and a DJ in the center playing pop tunes for the crowd.

Lots of visitors enjoyed just running and bouncing best of all, making wobbly turns around the trampoline-like floor that moved continuously, throwing people of all ages off balance and prompting wipeouts right and left.

Jair Martinez, 13, and his brother, Jordi, 12, ran and turned side-by-side flips.

“It’s really fun,” said Jair, who came up from San Pablo for the experience with family members.

With Santa Rosa the only Northern California stop, the Big Bounce appeared to draw from a large area, ranging north at least to Willits, home to Miranda Ross, who brought her son and daughter to play.

“Thank God I have siblings,” she said of her children from her seat on the floor. “I don’t have to go out there as much.”

Among the many locals, Sharmil Nelson of Santa Rosa said she just happened to drive by and knew she couldn’t skip a chance to take her 5-year-old son and 3-year-old grandson to check it out.

“They are really going to sleep tonight!” Nelson said with a big grin.