Weather, sponsors help Schaumburg Septemberfest succeed

Cooperative weather and an approximately $26,500 increase in sponsorships made Schaumburg’s 42nd annual Septemberfest over Labor Day weekend an enormous success, officials said.

Rarely has there been such a wide range of temperatures over the three-day event, but the threat of storms during the hot, humid Saturday never materialized and most parade participants were thankful for the cooler temperatures during Monday morning’s march.

“I think we dodged that bullet on Saturday with the rain,” Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said. “I think the parade (on Monday) was amazing. Huge crowds. It was a great temperature to march in.”

While the Schaumburg and Conant high school marching bands looked a lot more comfortable in their full uniforms in Monday’s cool autumn-like breezes, Larson admitted he was recuperating Tuesday from some painful shin splints after walking the parade route and Septemberfest grounds.

The cool weather may have caused crowds to taper off a little earlier than usual Monday afternoon — to the cost of the restaurants on site — but with the increase of corporate sponsorships and entertainment costs that fell below budget, Larson said he had no doubt Septemberfest had again made its goal to be a break-even event.

This year’s sponsorships of $95,175 were 39 percent above last year’s total of $68,597.

Final attendance figures were not immediately available for the three-day event, but about 250,000 people were expected to drop by the village’s municipal grounds at some point during the weekend.

Village Special Events Coordinator Roxane Benvenuti was taking a well-deserved day off Tuesday after the personal marathon of overseeing not only all three days of Septemberfest, but the nearly yearlong process of planning it.

“She does a great, great job,” Larson said.

In any gathering as large as Septemberfest there are bound to be some unruly patrons, but police kept things under control and there were no incidents that rose above the norm, he added.

Police Sgt. John Nebl confirmed there was only one arrest of an intoxicated, unruly woman at Saturday’s concert, making this year’s one of the quietest Septemberfests in a while.

The headlining musical acts for the weekend were Eddie Money, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and local band 7th Heaven.

The theme of this year’s Septemberfest parade was “Salute to Our Champions.” Several floats and marchers won awards in various categories.

A light blue ‘57 Thunderbird owned by Tim Falat won specialty/antique vehicle; Lights, Camera, Dancin’ won best dance group; American Legion Post 1983 was best junior/senior color guard; Great Lakes Navy Band was best adult marching band; Schaumburg High School won best high school marching band; the Schaumburg Park District won best commercial/professional float; and DeBaseball Buds — a kid-made float honoring both the White Sox and Cubs — won best amateur float.

The Septemberfest Committee meets again as early as Sept. 19 for a feedback meeting on what worked and what didn’t this year, before getting to work on planning next year’s event.