No new festival coming to Lombard - for now

There won't be a new community festival to replace the Taste of Lombard this summer, but village officials say they're open to suggestions for the future.

The Lombard Pride Committee has been meeting since July to explore options for a new flagship community festival, but despite some initial interest, no one came forward with a formal proposal.

The committee was formed after the village suspended the Taste of Lombard in early 2015 because of what officials called the "unforeseen dissolution" of the Lombard Jaycees, which sponsored the event for 32 years.

Village Manager Scott Niehaus said a request for proposals was sent to roughly 30 nonprofit and community groups. It sought "new and creative ideas that are not tied to any past historic events or locations" for a fest that could take place between June and September and run at least two days.

When it didn't receive any proposals, the committee offered four suggestions of its own to the village:

• Continue sponsoring Fourth of July fireworks.

• Continue supporting community events such as Cruise Nights and Jinglebell Jubilee.

• Remain open to special event proposals from interested organizations.

• Implement a special events communication plan.

Committee members said they can reconvene as needed to review and evaluate any future event proposals.

"I hate to see this happen, but I fully understand it and I do agree with the suggestion of the committee that we keep our minds open and hopefully maybe down the road we can do something," said Trustee Bill Ware, who once served as chairman for Taste of Lombard.

Trustee Reid Foltyniewicz praised the committee for its work, but also said he couldn't believe a community group didn't offer to oversee a new event.

"As a village we can't force any group to run an event," he said.

"We looked into everything possible to get something together," said Village President Keith Giagnorio, who served as chairman of the committee. "The opportunity is always going to be out there. So if a group wants to get together, or if a couple of groups want to get together, we can meet with them and see what they come up with."