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The Grove Folk Fest again altered, but there's still lots to do

The Grove Folk Fest is making a comeback - of sorts.

Canceled by flooding in 2019, canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the event as it was held over its previous 40 years will be postponed, again, to the fall of 2022.

Instead, organizers will present a smaller slate of family activities on Saturday, Oct. 2, and four folk music performances on Sunday, Oct. 3, at The Grove, a national historic landmark at 1421 Milwaukee Ave., Glenview.

"We've adjusted the activities to have less hands-on (activities), less food-based items to make sure everything is safe," said Jena Johnson of the Glenview Park District.

Some events are free and people can walk right up and participate. Others require tickets and advance registration in order to keep a handle on crowd sizes.

"With tickets we'll be able to manage the flow of how many visitors attend," Johnson said.

Full descriptions of events and ticket information, where applicable, is available on the Glenview Park District website landing page, glenviewparks.org, under "Fall fun at The Grove."

Though Johnson said this version is not the full Folk Fest, which she said typically attracts around 1,000 people, there remains plenty for families to do.

There are eight activities planned for Oct. 2, most in 1- or 2-hour time slots, with hayrides through The Grove woodlands rolling out every 20 minutes from 1-4 p.m.

Glenview arborist and Natural Resources manager Robyn Flakne starts Saturday's activities with a free guided trail walk spotlighting The Grove's oak stock from 9-10 a.m. Saturday's events end with kids making pioneer toys from 3-4 p.m., registration required.

In between there is square dancing, other tours including one of the Kendicott House garden, and other activities.

Sunday's concerts feature three duos and a concluding trio, the Grease Fire Rangers, all from 1 p.m. to about 4:50 p.m.

February Sky, Barb Silverman and Rick Veras, and Blind Hills play about an hour apiece starting at 1 p.m., with 10-minute breaks in between, until the Grease Fire Rangers take the stage.

Tickets are $5 per person for the concerts, sold in two-hour blocks so people can hear two acts. The time slots are from 1-3 p.m., 2-4 p.m. and 3-5 p.m.

Solidifying the event's old-timey credentials, a washboard is part of the Silverman-Veras performance.

"It's still going to be a lot of fun, we've got a lot of really cool things planned," said the Glenview Park District's Jena Johnson. "The gist of it is spread out over the two days and hopefully it will keep crowd sizes down and have everyone feeling safe and able to have fun."

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