Heat drives down attendance at Frontier Days

Asked what distinguished this year’s Arlington Heights Frontier Days festival from the other 36, co-chairwoman Janelle Kulisch replies, “the heat.”

“I don’t believe we ever had three days that were this hot,” Kulisch said, describing the trio of 100-plus-degree days smack in the middle of Frontier Days, the Northwest suburbs’ biggest Fourth of July festival that ran July 4-8.

Because of the unusual weather, Frontier Days experienced a drop in turnout and a few cases of heat exhaustion, which paramedics quickly took care of.

Among the festivals’ precautions against the heat included making sure that workers were properly hydrated, providing a misting station for festival-goers, and keeping a nurse at Recreation Park in case of medical emergencies.

“One thing we would change if we could would be the weather,” Kulisch said.

Frontier Days did have its share of successes. This year’s musical lineup included a few new bands, including FogHat, Burton Cummings and Tonic. Very popular were returning acts the Charlie Daniels Band and American English, a Beatles tribute band.

Aside from its well-known rides like the Inverter, Powersurge and Fireball, Frontier Days hosted activities like rib-eating, pie-eating, cake decorating, and dog Frisbee contests, the annual Stampede Run, a soccer game, and other sports activities.

As an added attraction, the Union Pacific brought its Chicago & North Western Heritage locomotive, the 1995, and parked it on a siding near the festival. The train theme is in keeping with the village’s quasquicentennial, or 125th, anniversary.