Festival of the Fox centers around the river in St. Charles
Fans of the St. Charles Riverfest won't find the same festival this year as they have in the previous 32 years of the history of the event.
According to event coordinator Vanessa Bell-LaSota, there have been big changes this year, including the name of the popular festival.
“We rebranded the event and titled it Festival of the Fox and brought everything back to the Fox River and centered it around the dragon boat races,” she said.
“It was high time to look at the festival as a whole and the growth of it after over 33 years, and decide whether or not we were really … delivering on the original mission that guided it at the outset.”
That mission, she said, was “to create a central festival for local residents that promoted the river and the historic tradition of St. Charles, that would be an asset to the community.”
“So we took a look at the venue and held it to that standard: Is it an asset to the community? Does it deliver something special?” Bell-LaSota continued. “And it was time to change.”
Rather than spreading the various activities across the St. Charles business district as in past years, there are now two venues, Pottawatomie Park with the dragon boat races and the festival's carnival at Route 31 and Cedar Street.
This is the 25th running of the dragon boat races on the Fox River and the largest amount of competitors thus far, according to Paul Wasylyszyn, coordinator of the event.
“There are 32 teams, each with 18 paddlers and one flag catcher and one drummer per boat,” he said. “There will be 18 teams on Saturday and 14 teams on Sunday.”
Wasylyszyn notes that the races are an unusual experience for participants and viewers.
“It's a unique sport,” he said. “There aren't many places that individuals have the opportunity to be involved in a team spirit as unique as dragon boat paddling. So it's a cool opportunity for local businesses and neighborhoods and family and friends to get together to compete.”
The Chinese culture, with which the dragon boat races is associated, will be highlighted in a number of ways.
“We are giving away 100 Chinese kites to the first 50 children on Saturday and Sunday, and giving kite flying lessons right in the heart of the park,” Bell-LaSota said.
The St. Charles History Museum will be on hand in the park's pavilion with a free dragon craft and will be handing out 100 battery-powered paper lanterns at dusk on Saturday.
Kids will be given the chance to name the festival's dragon mascot, according to Bell-LaSota.
“We'll have a winning name and that will become the name of our dragon and that family will win a nice family prize basket,” she said.
Not every activity associated with the festival will be linked to Chinese culture. A showing of “Finding Nemo” will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at Pottawatomie Park's amphitheater.
Local performers will be providing entertainment throughout the festival. There will also be a festival-affiliated concert featuring Trio Life, an electroacoustic band, from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at Lincoln Park, 450 West Main St.
Even the food offerings are new this year, according to Bell-LaSota. A number of the offerings were scouted at the local farmers markets and will be sold alongside the traditional carnival fare.
On Friday, June 10, the festival will offer a Special Families Event from noon to 2 p.m., which will include free rides and refreshments for special needs children and their families. This is the third year this has taken place.
“We reach out to various partners in the area to help us to provide a completely free day of entertainment, refreshments, and events for the families and kids,” said event Chairperson Taylor Garner.
“Windy City Carnival has sponsored complimentary rides for our special kids and their immediate families. Buddy Break, which is a special needs ministry with the First Baptist Church of Geneva, is participating in addition to attorney-at-law Judith Schening who is providing refreshments. Project Mobility will be participating with a display and demonstration of adaptive bikes,” Garner said.
Garner, who is a special needs parent to Blake, who has Down syndrome, said that more than 500 special needs families took advantage of the offer last summer.
With all of the changes, this year's event will be a study for the festival's board members as well the city and its residents.
“It's like throwing a party; let's see who comes,” said Bell-LaSota. “Let's see the general response from the community.”
For details, visit festivalofthe fox.com/.
If you go
What: Festival of the Fox, formerly known as St. Charles Riverfest
Where: Two locations: Dragon boat races at Pottawatomie Park, 8 North Ave, carnival at Route 31 and Cedar St., St. Charles
When: Carnival hours are 1 to 10 p.m. Thursday; noon to 11 p.m. Friday; noon to 11 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday; Pottawatomie Park hours are 8:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9-12
Admission: Free; there is a fee for food, drink and carnival rides
Details: <a href="http://festivalofthefox.com/">festivalofthefox.com</a>