Gilberts festival will be reborn Friday as 'block party'

After years without a community festival, the folks in Gilberts are again giving it a whirl.

But they don't want Gilberts Community Days to be something ginormous like Naperville's Ribfest.

"It's a much smaller scale. It's more like a block party," said Debra Meadows, Gilberts' acting village clerk. "All the events are of no cost to the village."

Bolstered by community and corporate donations, Community Days will have a corn roast, barbecue and live music and run from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to 11 a.m. Saturday along Galligan Road between Turner Street and Route 72.

"What we're trying to do is bring back a sense of community, not just (have) a festival to make money," Meadows said, adding the idea arose from a village staff meeting. "Everybody was very excited about it, so we ran with it."

Meadows said the village has been a planning the event for about eight weeks.

Some highlights include:

• A 16-inch, coed softball tournament beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday. To register, call (847) 728-8823.

• A bike parade at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. McGruff the Crime Dog will lead a decorated bike parade. Prizes will be awarded.

• Live music beginning at 5 p.m. each day.

• A bags tournament at 2 p.m. at Brett's American Bar and Grill, 38 E. Higgins Road, Gilberts, to help raise money for the YMCA, Renegades Soccer Association, and the Gilberts Football and Cheerleading Association. Advance registration at village hall is required.

For details, call (847) 428-2861 or visit villageofgilberts.com.