advertisement

Frontier Days - one of largest fests in suburbs - called off because of pandemic

Organizers of Frontier Days in Arlington Heights, one of the largest summer events in the suburbs, announced Wednesday the cancellation of the July Fourth weekend festival over concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The festival's board of directors said their decision was difficult, but done with the "safety and well-being of our Red Shirt volunteers, festival attendees, vendors, and suppliers" at top of mind.

The announcement by the nonprofit volunteer committee comes a week after the village's Memorial Day Parade - perhaps the largest such procession in the suburbs - also was called off.

Organizers of summer events throughout the suburbs have started to scrap plans for a number of large gatherings as the state's stay-at-home order remains in place.

"With state guidelines in mind, it would not be safe to bring large groups of people together early in July," according to an announcement posted Wednesday afternoon on the Frontier Days website. "We feel confident that our scientists, medical personnel and all Americans will all pull together and defeat this virus. We will survive this and look forward to bringing Frontier Days back in 2021 to celebrate our nation's birthday as well as all of those who have helped get our nation through this time of crisis."

Originally set for July 1-5, the festival would have celebrated its 45th year in 2020. It normally draws thousands to Recreation Park just east of the village's downtown for its lineup of bands, food vendors, arts and crafts fair, family entertainment, and games and competitions.

Two co-chairs, 20 committee heads and more than 250 volunteers helped run the fest in 2019, which featured main stage headliner Bret Michaels, 1970s rock band War and singer Scott Stapp.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.