Libertyville Days opens with food, entertainment

The Libertyville Days festival kicked off Thursday with food, entertainment, the Miss Libertyville pageants, carnival rides and games.

"Festival of Heroes" is the theme of this year's event in downtown Libertyville through Sunday. The festival is run by the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation.

Carnival rides for younger children are in Sunrise Rotary Park, while rides for older children and adults are located behind the civic center.

Festival highlights include a Church Street Eats featuring food vendors, as well as a beer garden, a children's party, the Lions of Illinois Hearing Bus, caricatures and easel art, root beer making, a cookie bake-off and a firefighters rib cook-off. There's also a jalapeño pepper-eating contest, a watermelon-eating contest, an arts and crafts fair, a bags tournament and the Cook Mansion open house.

The annual Libertyville Days parade steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday in downtown Libertyville.

For more information and a festival schedule, visit www.libertyville.com.