Why East Dundee will stop participating in Heritage Fest

Two towns. Two festivals. Two reasons to visit the Dundee area.

That's the mentality behind East Dundee's decision to opt out of its involvement in Heritage Fest, an annual September event typically held in coordination with West Dundee. Instead, East Dundee is putting on an Oktoberfest celebration a month later in hopes of bringing large crowds back to the community, Village Administrator Jennifer Johnsen said.

"The main reason is to eliminate the competition between the two towns and enable us to have two weekends that would draw patrons into the Dundee area rather than having just one," Johnsen said. "We saw it as a way to benefit both East Dundee and West Dundee going forward."

The idea to change the date and concept of East Dundee's portion of Heritage Fest stemmed from feedback gathered through focus groups and community surveys, Johnsen said.

The village's level of participation in Heritage Fest has fluctuated since West Dundee launched the event more than 20 years ago. East Dundee started taking a more active role in the last several years, prompting the two towns to coordinate schedules and share advertising, Johnsen said. But some aspects of the event became redundant from one village to the next.

"We tried to collaborate as much as possible, but ultimately, the population that would come in was split between the towns," Johnsen said. "It just results in lower attendance on both sides of the river."

The new event, scheduled Oct. 12 to 14, will feature a carnival and many of the same elements as Heritage Fest, she said. Organizers also are looking for ways to make the fall-themed event stand out, such as a German Oktoberfest band.

The village is budgeting about $40,000 for the event, some of which will be offset by sponsorships and event revenue, Johnsen said.

East Dundee's decision to bow out of Heritage Fest this year won't affect the event on the west side of the river, West Dundee Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said. The change simply creates an extra weekend of entertainment for the Dundee area.

"It gives the opportunity for each of the communities to take center stage on separate weekends," Cavallaro said. "That's the better way to do this."

East Dundee's event schedule also includes its monthly summer events, including Motor Mondays, Wine Down Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays and Concerts in the Park. Johnsen said some of those gatherings, particularly Thirsty Thursdays, are being revamped to put a greater emphasis on live music.

"We're really looking forward to this year's event schedule and making it bigger and better than in past years," she said.