Highlights as Libertyville Days returns June 14-17

The annual Libertyville Days festival will take place Thursday through Sunday, June 14-17 in downtown Libertyville. Activities are scheduled from 5-11 p.m. Thursday, June 14; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, June 15; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, June 16; and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 17, in downtown Libertyville, with most events taking place at Cook Park, 413 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. Admission is free.

The theme for the 2018 Libertyville Days Festival is "Libertyville, A Beautiful Place in the Country!" The theme is a tribute to Libertyville's farm and country past. The theme also recognizes the current "Mile of Cars" automobile district along Milwaukee Avenue; a familiar sound on Chicago area television and radio in the 1970s and 80s was Weil Cadillac's "A beautiful place in the country," jingle.

This year's festival includes a renewed focus on four nights of quality musical acts for the main stage area near the Civic Center building. The musical acts include: Modern Day Romeos, Ivy Ford, Betty Soul, Fletch Rockwell, WheelHouse and Mellencougar.

Other festival highlights include the Miss Libertyville pageants on June 14, Children's Party and Children's Bake Off on June 15, youth stage performances on June 16, and a watermelon eating contest and an appearance by the Agriculture Lake County Farm Group on June 17.

The Beer Garden will be open all four days in the Civic Center parking lot, from 5-11 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m. to midnight Friday, noon to midnight Saturday, and 1-6 p.m. Sunday.

One of the highlights of the festival is the annual Libertyville Days Parade. The 2018 Libertyville Days Parade Grand Marshals are longtime Libertyville Days and Civic Center volunteers Art and Nancy Kopp, who have spent decades involved with volunteering with the Libertyville Days festival.

Art is the former president of the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation. According to Libertyville Mayor and former Civic Center Foundation president Terry Weppler, many improvements made to the Civic Center building were attributable to Kopp's work.

Nancy Kopp spent numerous years as the Libertyville Days Parade chairwoman, spending a great deal of time coordinating parade entries, and ensuring the parade would step off each year, without issue.

"Without Nancy, there wouldn't have been a parade for a number of years," Weppler said.

The 2018 parade will step off from the Downtown Metra Station at 10 a.m., heading South along Milwaukee Avenue to Rockland Road.

Weppler made an effort to add new parade entries that were different from previous year's, including more bands than ever before. Weppler said it is important to try some new things, to "make it a little different from other parades."

The roots of the festival go back roughly 100 years. A summertime festival has been a part of Libertyville's history since the mid-1850s. The Lake County Fair was first held in Libertyville in 1854, then again from 1858-1925. While the exact start of the first "Libertyville Days" festival is a bit unclear, the origins to appear to be around the time the county fair left town. In the 1960s, local nonprofit groups including the Libertyville Lions, Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus and Libertyville Junior Woman's Club took over the festival administration as a fundraiser. Eventually these groups founded the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation, which operates the Libertyville Civic Center. The Libertyville Days Festival is now the annual fundraiser for the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation.

Throughout the years, the Libertyville summertime community festival has been a time and place for friends and neighbors to spend time relaxing, playing games and enjoying food and company.

For more information on Libertyville Days, visit www.LibertyvilleDays.org. For information on the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation, visit www.libciviccenter.org.