Algonquin Founders' Days festival returning to Towne Park

After three years of being held at a neighborhood park, Algonquin Founders' Days is returning downtown this summer.

The 56th annual four-day festival will take place at Towne Park, 100 Jefferson St., where it was held for years until it was moved to Algonquin Lakes Park in 2013 to accommodate Algonquin Western Bypass construction. As part of that project, renovations were also made to Towne Park.

The Algonquin Lakes Park location may have offered more open space, festival board President Alan Kirk said, but it wasn't as popular or as economically viable as Towne Park. Festival attendance, which typically reaches at least 15,000 people, was down 20 to 30 percent in the last few years, he said.

"People like the downtown," Kirk said, citing residents' comments on social media indicating they preferred the Towne Park location. "Founders' Days should highlight the downtown. That's where it should be."

This year's location not only benefits downtown business owners, he added, but it also serves as a central site for more residents.

"We're going to get a lot more traffic down here because people can see it," said Kirk, a longtime Algonquin resident.

Founders' Days, a long-standing tradition honoring the founders of the community, is July 28 to 31. This year's event offers a carnival, food vendors, live music and other festival favorites, Kirk said, such as a bags tournament and a cardboard boat regatta.

The downtown location also allows event organizers to close off part of Main Street on Sunday for a car show - a first for Founders' Days, Kirk said.

Additionally, the festival's layout will be changed to expand the social garden, where alcohol is allowed, he said.

"People are going to love the new layout," he said. "This is a historical year."

Event organizers are raising money online for both the festival and the annual riverside fireworks.