Wood Dale hosting summer concerts, car shows, movie nights

A concert series, classic car shows and movie nights are among several summer events being hosted by Wood Dale city officials.

Community events were largely absent last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although some events such as Prairie Fest remain canceled, others have returned and in full capacity, officials said. All events are free to attend.

Mayor Nunzio Pulice said he was encouraged by the participation of the Cruise Night car show on West Commercial Street on Monday.

"It feels good to be opening things back up," Pulice said. "We had a good turnout at the car show. It's nice to get back to some sort of normalcy."

Summer festivities kicked off June 4 with the Four C Notes performing at the first of four Sounds of Summer concerts. American English performed June 18, while Modern Day Romeos and Johnny Russler & the Beach Bum Band are scheduled for July 17 and Aug. 27 respectively. The performances will be at Community Square, 300 North Wood Dale Road.

The Cruise Night classic auto shows will have two more dates at Community Square - July 19 and Aug. 16.

There will be three outdoor movie nights as well, including a July 23 "date night" special at 320 North Wood Dale Road, partnering with the Wood Dale Park District in a showing of "Grease." Other movie nights are scheduled for Aug. 20 and Sept. 10 at the same location.

Wood Dale Community Outreach Director Grant Paplauskas said attendance has been good for events and added that the first two summer concerts had twice as much attendance as they did in 2019.

"The Wood Dale community definitely missed having events, and it's clear by the numbers of people in attendance," Paplauskas said.