Lake County gets festive this summer
Grab your sunscreen, spray on the insect repellent and get your appetites ready: Summer festivals are headed to Lake County.
With live music, great food, fireworks and even fine art, here are some of the festivals on the calendar:
Mundelein Community Days
When: July 1-4
Where: Most events at fairground on Seymour Avenue at Division Street
Info: (847) 949-3200 or mundelein.org
A carnival, kids games, races and live music are among the attractions planned for this annual gathering, scheduled to run from July 1-4.
As always, most events will be at the fairgrounds at Seymour Avenue at Division Street or at nearby Kracklauer Park. There you’ll find the legendary Mundelein Munch, a collection of booths featuring freshly cooked food from some of the area’s most popular restaurants.
Sure to be a highlight this year is the annual Buffalo chicken wing eating contest, sponsored by local food fixture Franks for the Memories. Set for July 4, it’ll be part of a larger event called “Food Wars” that also will feature a cook-off for local restaurants.
“It’ll be a chance for a local restaurant to have the best of whatever the selected item is,” Assistant Village Administrator Michael Flynn said. “Maybe it’s hamburgers. Maybe it’s hot dogs. It’s a fun sideshow.”
Lincolnshire Art Festival
When: Aug. 13-14
Where: Village Green shopping center, on Milwaukee Avenue at Olde Half Day Road
Info: amdurproductions.com/f-lincolnshire-public.html
Held every year at the Village Green shopping center, this art fair is a treat. It’s expected to feature the work of 150 painters, woodworkers, jewelry makers, sculptors and other artists, all in rows of tents.
Admittedly not very artistic himself, Mayor Brett Blomberg is amazed by the various styles of art available each year.
“(There is) a very wide variety,” he said.
Vendors will have food for sale on the grounds, too.
The 14th annual art festival will be Aug. 13-14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. It’s free to attend.
Gurnee Days
When: Aug. 11-14
Where: Most events in village center, near O’Plaine Road and Old Grand Avenue
Info: (847) 623-7788
Head to the center of Gurnee — the area near O’Plaine Road and Old Grand Avenue — for this annual celebration.
A bicycle rodeo, rib festival, live music, a parade and a carnival are among the events planned. Many activities will be held at Viking and Peterson parks.
Gurnee spokesman Pat Muetz praised the festival as being less commercial and more community focused than, say, the Taste of Chicago or Milwaukee’s Summerfest.
“I think the residents are more comfortable and enjoy it more,” Muetz said.
Gurnee Days runs Aug. 11-14. A dinner is set to kick off the event the first night, with the rest of the activities launching the next day.
The festival is free.