Elburn Days returns for its 94th year with truck pulls, music, mud volleyball and more

The Elburn Lions Club is celebrating its 94th annual Elburn Days festival with the theme, "Serving Today For a Better Tomorrow." It is the club's largest fundraiser of the year.

The three day-festival on Aug. 18-20 features music, food, truck pulls, mud volleyball, commercial booths, craft show, and more.

Festival hours are 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Elburn Lions Park, 500 S. Filmore St.

Admission is free. There is no charge to enter the beer garden or listen to the bands perform.

Parade

See local clubs, organizations, and businesses march in the annual Elburn Days parade kicking off the three-day festival on Friday.

The parade will step off at 6 p.m. sharp, along Route 47 from Pierce Street to South Street.

Live music

Come on down for the area's best live music - old favorites and new acts you'll love. Elburn Days has music on the main stage and in the beer garden.

On Friday, Voyage will perform the best classic arena rock from the 1970s and '80s from 8 to 11 p.m.

On Saturday, the beer garden will open with music from 2 Of Us from noon to 3 p.m.

The Chicago blues band Black Oil Brothers will be open the main stage from 4 to 7 p.m.

The Back Country Roads will take the stage performing top 40 hits and classic country covers from 8 to 11 p.m.

On Sunday, the Ripped Jeans duo will play some classic rock and country from noon to 3 p.m. in the beer garden.

The Jared Olson Band from Kaneville will be playing their original hits, along with some of your favorite rock and country covers, from 3 to 5 p.m.

Rocks Off, a Rollings Stones tribute band, will close out the three-day festival from 6 to 9 p.m.

Community stage

The Community Stage, located just east of the clubhouse, is filled with family-friendly entertainment all weekend long. Many of the events are open to participation for kids.

Truck & tractor pulls

The Truck & Tractor Pulls return for 46th year starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Illini State Pullers class lineup may include: Super Stock Trucks, Altered Trucks, Hot Street Diesel Trucks, NA Super Stock/Pro-Field Tractors, Stock Gas Trucks, and Stock Diesel Trucks.

Admission is $5 for age 13 or older. Gates open at 10 a.m.

Craft show

Support local with the Elburn Chamber of Commerce's Elburn Days Craft Show from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Bingo

Need a bingo fix? Regular bingo games will be played from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday. You must be 18 or older to play. All games are $1 each. The Lions will also be selling pull tabs during bingo. Pull tabs are also $1 each.

Carnival

Carnival rides are 5 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, 1 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Wristband specials will be offered for $25 on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. and on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. or 6 to 9 p.m. It will be $35 from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are cash only.

Pie-baking contest

Blackberry Masonic Lodge 359 is hosting a pie-baking contest. Drop off your pies for registration between 8 and 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, at the clubhouse banquet hall.

The categories are: fruit, nut, and other (no dairy, cream or meat pies allowed).

There is one grand prize ($100), three first prizes ($50), and three runner-up prizes ($25).

Car raffle

The Elburn Lions' most popular raffle is back for 2023. The winner will receive the choice of a 2023-24 Chevy car or truck from Bob Jass Chevrolet in Elburn or $30,000 cash. (Vehicle not to exceed $40,000).

Tickets are $20 each. Only 3,750 tickets are sold. Get your tickets online at elburn-lions-car-raffle.square.site/, at local businesses, or from Lions' members.

Second place receives $2,023. Third place receives $500. Tickets will be drawn at 8 p.m. Sunday, or as soon as possible after that date when all tickets are sold. The final possible draw date is Oct. 1. The winner need not be present. You must be 18 or older to play.

50/50 raffle

The Elburn Lions Club will be hosting a 50/50 raffle at Elburn Days. Tickets are available for $5 each via Lions Club members and online. Tickets will be on sale at various locations throughout Lions Park during the entire festival. The drawing will be held at 8 p.m. Sunday. Last year's total ticket sales were more than $12,000.

Hobby Town RC Car Races

Come watch the Hobby Town RC Car races from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Registration starts at 8 a.m. Check out the dirt track and see who wins!

Mud volleyball

Cheer on the teams during the mud volleyball tournament from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. There will be prizes for the first- and second-place winners.

Car seat checks

Not sure if you have the right car seat? The Elburn and Countryside Fire Protection District will be at Lions Park to help you! Car seat checks will be done from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday at the southwest corner of the grass parking lot on Stetzer Street.

Beer garden

The beer garden will be serving Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers on Saturday and Sunday from open until 3 p.m. for $7 each.

Enjoy music and a cold brew! Tickets sales end a half-hour before the beer garden closes. Tickets are good for all three days of the festival.

Food stands

Enjoy hot dogs and brats from Ream's Meat Market, Lion Phil Gladd's famous pulled pork sandwiches, rib-eye sandwiches, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, taco-in-a-bag, sweet corn, cookies, chips and refreshments.

The Leo Club Stand at the main pavilion will be serving up root beer floats, ice cream bars, and hot pretzels.

Parking

Elburn Days is the Elburn Lions Club's biggest fundraiser of the year. Proceeds from this event help the organization meet its charitable goals.

For your convenience, parking is available right at Lions Park. During certain hours of the festival, volunteers will be soliciting donations as you park. They are suggesting a $5 parking donation per vehicle.

New this year, the club will be collecting nonperishable food items for the food drive in lieu of cash donations at the entrance to the park.

If there is no one soliciting donations when you park, stop by the Leo Club's root beer float stand at the main pavilion to make a donation.

After Elburn Days, the club spends thousands of dollars restoring the park (such as reseeding the grass, etc.). They appreciate any donations can offset these costs so that the proceeds can go toward charity.

On Friday, parking using the Stetzer Street entrance. On Saturday and Sunday, enter on South Street. For a map, visit elburnlions.com/elburn-days-parking/.

Profits generated from Elburn Days go toward Lions Club projects such as: Community Citizens in Need, Juvenile Diabetes, visually impaired programs, seniors Christmas dinner, Camp Lions for Children, local food pantries, Leader Dog for the Blind, local homeless shelters, children's vision screenings, and glaucoma and hearing screenings.

For an updated schedule, go to elburnlions.com/elburn-days/ or facebook.com/elburndays.