Rain washed out some Friday festivals

Organizers of two Lake County community festivals that were washed out by heavy storms Friday night, say they recovered nicely and ended the weekend with plenty of fun in the sun for visitors.

Beachfest in Round Lake Beach and Libertyville Days in Libertyville both were forced to end well before the 11 p.m. closing, and cancel some scheduled activities after heavy rain and severe weather warnings swamped the venues.

Beachfest tried to continued with a Miss Round Lake Area pageant until about 8:30 p.m., when the rain even derailed indoor activities, said Monica Marr, facilities manager for Round Lake Beach.

"We actually had cars floating in the parking lot," Marr said. "We actually had to make announcements with the license plate numbers, saying 'Your car is floating.'"

Marr said Friday's early end to Beachfest canceled performances by two bands, closed the carnival and was a disappointment to people who had worked hard to prepare the event.

Anne Carlino, director of the Libertyville Civic Center, said Libertyville Days was cut short about 8:15 p.m. A carnival with rides and games, a tween and teen dance and a performance by The Usuals were casualties of the storm.

Organizers from both festivals said they saw lower attendance Friday, but won't know if they lost money because of the storms until invoices are collected from vendors and totaled.

However, Saturday was clear and hot enough to bring people out to the festivals in droves.

Carlino said they made up for some of Friday's lost attendance Saturday. "The consensus was that had we not lost Friday, it might have been one of the most successful (Libertyville Days) ever," she said.

Marr said Saturday evening performances by the Minus One Band and Infinity drew 1,200 to 1,300 people to Beachfest.

The ground was still muddy Saturday, but Marr and Carlino said the rain did not do any damage beyond Friday's closures.