New location, same fun, at Fox Lake Fireman’s Festival
The annual Fox Lake Volunteer Fireman’s Festival is moving to a new location, but officials promise it will feature the same fun as in previous years.
Tom Muehlfelder, president of the Fox Lake Volunteer Fire Department, said the two-day festival is set for Saturday and Sunday at the Fox Lake Volunteer Fire Department bingo hall at 114 Washington St.
In previous years, the event was in the back of Fox Lake Fire Station #2 at 302 W. Washington St., Muehlfelder said.
Fire officials decided to move the festival so it would no longer affect Fox Lake Fire Protection District operations at one of the primary fire stations, he said.
“Firemen are on duty when the festival is taking place, and we are taking over their station, moving out their fire trucks, and everything else,” he said. “Logistically, by moving it to the bingo hall, we stay out of the way of the firefighters that continue working.”
The event kicks off Saturday at 3 p.m., Muehlfelder said, with the fireman’s waterfights scheduled for 4 p.m. The waterfights will take place in the center of Washington Street, he said.
The band “Speak Easy” will take the stage at 8 p.m. and play until about 11 p.m., he said. The event officially ends at midnight.
The festival restarts at 10 a.m. Sunday and runs through 6 p.m., with the businessmen and businesswomen waterfights at noon.
Registration for the waterfights begins at 10 a.m., he said.
The festival will also feature carnival games, refreshments and food, as in years past.
Money raised will still go to help fund education and supplies for firefighters at the Fox Lake Fire Protection District, Muehlfelder said. It also helps fund charity events in Fox Lake.
“This is the second event we’ve held since moving all volunteer functions to the bingo hall,” he said. “The St. Patricks Day event we used to hold has been downsized to a corned beef dinner rather than a casino night because we do not have the space to hold the big celebration like we did in the past.”