On a breezy Tuesday afternoon, many Manhattanites were sitting on the newly opened Highline and enjoying the gardens overlooking Chelsea. It was underneath this public park that fifteen teenagers decided to take over a plot of land and plant a party.

“Why not bring a culture to the Highline and try to make it more than just a walkway with a garden,” said Spencer Brown, 16, welcoming people on the street with what he called a “mobile” lemonade stand.

The teenagers are all part of Digital Day Camp (DDC), a program they are paid to participate in at Eyebeam Art and Technology Center’s Summer School. The twelve-day program introduces artistic high school kids around New York City to careers in art and technology, with an emphasis on activism in an urban environment.

The party, creatively titled “Pop Up Party,” for the colorful balloon-decorated set and the free “PUP” lemonade stands, represents the teens’ final project (for more, check out their site). Everything was brainstormed and created by the students, with the support of artists Adriana Young and Christina Kral, Education Coordinator Stephanie Pereira and Teaching Assistant Malwina Andrucczuk.

The idea was to “create a sense of curiosity for people who usually do not go to the High Line through the interaction with art,” said Siena Larris, 17, from Lab School For Collaborative Studies.

And cause a sense of curiosity they did. The party from far away looked like buckets of a painter’s palate were spilled onto the concrete, topped off with a levitating sign reading “Pop Up Party.”

Delving deeper in exposes a hubbub of activity. Visitors could stop and listen to Jade Highleyman, a member of DDC, performing mellow favorites like “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. The more sporty inclined could join an intense game of four square with players of all ages. Or, if the wonderfully bright colors of party weren’t visually pleasing enough, a pair could enjoy a make-shift movie theater for two, showing a selection of short videos made by the DDC students over the course of the program.

In line with the environmental motif, participants of the party could walk away with a free plant. Evonny Escoto, 17, Bronx High School of Business, headed the planting section where she offered “sunflower, mustard, cherry, tomato, Yeats, poppy, dill, lettuce, and broccoli” seeds to be planted in a personalized pot and taken home.

Refreshments were available in the form of free lemonade distributed in exchange for a “story, secret, or interesting fact.” At the start of the party, Brown, from the mobile lemonade-stand, headed a pulley system that brought the drink up to the Highline, thus connecting it to the street.

That kind of connection between the Highline and the general public is what the Digital Day Campers hoped to achieve.

“A popular belief is that it was built to endorse Chelsea for the more rich in taste,” said Caroline Spivack, 15, Institute For Collaborative Education.

By creating a carnival so visually alluring, a rare splash of color on an otherwise dull street, and by being so interactive with its visitors, the “Pop Up Party” captured the interest of many New Yorkers who would have otherwise walked right past the Highline.

“We wanna say ‘Hey your totally entitled to this public space,'” said Larris.