Spirit of a Town, Party of the Summer

January 25, 2017

PrairieFest 2017

This June PrairieFest will bring “Spirit of A Town, Party of The Summer”. Presented by the Oswegoland Park District and First National Bank, the theme is a nod to community’s charm as well as the stirring summer celebration that occurs for four days of Father’s Day weekend.

Free concerts and performances have always been a highlight of the weekend, so there has been excitement at the reveal of this year’s entertainment lineup. Partnered with free parking and free admission, the PrairieFest schedule fills a great weekend.

The circus comes to town in 2017. Cincinnati Circus will bring jugglers, trapeze and aerial artists, and their bed of nails to entertain crowds. Performances will be throughout Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17. Workshops will also be available for those planning on running away to the circus one day.

Traditionally, the Father’s Day Festival features three nights of quality concerts. This June, PrairieFest expands to deliver Country Sunday. This year local band Country Line Brothers will open for the extremely popular Chicago area Hillbilly Rockstarz.

Thursday’s celebration begins with several local groups, culminating with The PrairieWinds Community Concert, a PrairieFest tradition for musicians in our area. Anyone interested in joining the community band can contact Ginny Bateman at gbateman@oswegolandpd.org or 630.554.4430. These terrific performances will serve as a great lead in to the Thursday night band, Libido Funk Circus. LFC has been Chicago’s favorite dance party band for 20 years. We are pleased to welcome them to the PrairieFest stage for the first time.

Accomplished Chicago-area musician, Istvan and His Imaginary Band will lead our youngest concertgoers on a musical adventure at the Friday Family Concert on the PrairieFest main stage at noon.

Bringing their 90’s hits, “I Believe”, “Hey Leonardo”, “I Wanna Be There”, Blessid Union of Souls will kick off the night of Friday, June 16. The band will open for the night’s headliner, Eve 6. This Southern California band is well known for their singles, “Inside Out”, “Here’s To The Night”, and “Victoria”.

With the help of generous business partners, PrairieFest continues to offer outstanding entertainment for Saturday. Gina Glocksen, Chicago-area rocker and American Idol alum will be a rousing lead in for the night’s big act. On Saturday, June 17, Sugar Ray will perform for the PrairieFest crowd. Led by energetic frontman Mark McGrath, the group will entertain with songs like, “Every Morning”, “Fly” and “When It’s Over”.

PrairieFest weekend is always entertaining and this year’s schedule delivers on the tradition again. Community groups looking to be a part of the Expo Village, present an event, or march in the parade are encouraged to contact festival coordinator Kristie Vest at 630.554.4425 or by email at kvest@oswegolandpd.org. Area businesses looking to support the community festival are encouraged to contact Kristie as well.

You can also get the latest festival information at prairiefest.com. See you at the Fest!