Organizers drop three-site plan, Buffalo Grove Days will return to Mike Rylko Community Park

Buffalo Grove is moving ahead with plans to hold Buffalo Grove Days at Mike Rylko Community Park over the Labor Day weekend.

The village board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Buffalo Grove Park District this week outlining plans for the annual fest.

"What a long, strange journey it's been to get to this position," said Public Works Director Mike Skibbe, the village liaison to the Buffalo Grove Days Committee.

In February, he recalled, the village was trying to design a "socially distanced and fiscally responsible event." Preliminary plans called for festival activities to take place at three locations to limit crowd sizes.

But with COVID-19 restrictions fading and Illinois in Phase 5 of its recovery plan, the park district approached the village with a request to move the festival back to a single location. To help move those plans along, and to offset some of the costs village would incur, the park district was open to a formal agreement on the operation of Buffalo Grove Days.

The park district also has the ability to gather sponsorships, sell beverages and assist with site setup. The village will bring its strengths in contract procurement, public safety services, and the Buffalo Grove Days Committee, which will handle entertainment and food vendors.

Skibbe thanked park district board President Scott Jacobson for working behind the scenes to pull the agreement together. He also thanked Buffalo Grove Trustees Eric Smith, Andrew Stein and Lester Ottenheimer III for their assistance, as well as Paulette Greenberg, the Buffalo Grove Days Committee co-chair.

The park board approved its part in the agreement Monday.

"The Buffalo Grove Days Committee is ready to fiercely and proactively start planning this event from this point forward," Skibbe said.