Braidwood Lions Summerfest fast approaching with a Totally 80s vibe

It’s almost time!

As July approaches and summer heats up, the final preparations are being made for this year’s Braidwood Lions Summerfest.

This year’s theme goes back to the festival’s roots more than four decades ago—An 80s Rewind.

The festival takes over Old Smokey City Park July 13-16.

“Our festival planning committee has spent the past several months planning for our 42nd year of fun in the sun and we are looking forward to another fun filled, hometown, family-oriented festival,” Summerfest Festival Chairman and Operations Coordinator Josh Bolatto said.

The festival committee announced the following entertainment this year:

Constellation Energy Entertainment Stage

• Thursday, July 13 — DJ Roy Gregory will be hosting his annual Summerfest Country, Rock & Blues Dance Party from 7-10:30 p.m.

• Friday — The country party band known for their fun time, country music with a country attitude “Nashville Electric Company” from 8-11:30 p.m. in their Summerfest debut.

“Nashville Electric Company is down-home country music energy and delivers a performance as no other country band can. Singing along, smiling, boot scootin', and having the time of your life—the days and times that inspired you to love country music,” Bolatto said. “Good friends, cold drinks, and fun tunes from back then as well as today and that's what it's all about! So whether it’s dancing, clapping, or raising your hands in the air, Nashville Electric Company will take you there!”

• Saturday — The areas most popular 80’s band “The Brat Pack” will play all your favorite 80’s music from 7:30-11:30 p.m. Known for their colorful high energy sound, The Brat Pack last performed at Summerfest in 2017, and promise an engaging entertainment experience to their audiences every time they take the stage.

• Sunday — “The Baked Potatoes” will take the stage from 6:30-9:30 p.m., playing classic rock favorites. Comprised of several local area musicians, The Baked Potatoes will help to bring the festival to a close leading up to the annual fireworks display.

Performances

On Saturday afternoon, famous local magician Tim Hannig will be performing his “Tim... That’s Amazing” family show from 4-4:45 p.m. in front of the entertainment stage. Tim has performed for Six Flags Theme Parks (over 900 shows!), The Chicago White Sox, The Country Music Association, and twice at The White House. Tim is a magician, actor, comedian and ventriloquist who is the two-time 1st Place Winner of the Chicago Magic Competition. Over 2 million people have experienced his shows across 43 states, Canada and the UK.”

On Sunday afternoon from 2:30-4:30 p.m., Ron Bordewick also known as “The Normal One” will be clowning around in the entertainment and hospitality area with his funny antics and lovable tricks. Before coming down to the park, he will also be appearing in the Hometown Proud Parade greeting the crowd as they line the parade route.

Carnival

This year’s carnival midway will be featuring a new ride this year in addition to all of their traditional carnival ride favorites. The “Riptide” is a surfing theme ride which whisks riders from side to side in a wave-like fashion. Returning this year will be the Mega-Pass option which allows for unlimited rides for the entire festival from open to close. The Mega-Pass is different from the unlimited ride wristband sessions which are only good for one of the unlimited ride wristband sessions.

“We had such a good response with the Mega-Passes last year that they decided to bring them back this year. Pre-sales will begin in the beginning of July and full details will be released once they go on sale,” Bolatto said.

Parade

The annual Hometown Proud Parade returns in Sunday, and this year will be led by Lions Club friend and dedicated volunteer Rich Bieda.

Rich was selected for his dedication and service to our community and residents as well as the Lions Club.

“Rich is a very active volunteer in the community donating his time and talents to not only our club, but other organizations as well including the Braidwood Park District and the Braidwood Community Care Center, just to name a few,” Bolatto said. “Anyone who has ever attended one of our club’s community events has probably run into Rich at one point or another. While he is not a member of our club, he is one of our most dedicated volunteers and has made a huge impact on our organization which in turn helps us to make a greater impact on the communities we so proudly serve. Rich was presented with the honor [last week] via video chat as he is currently on vacation but we plan on doing a more formal presentation when he returns.”

Rich will be accompanied by his wife Ellen as the Annual Hometown Proud Parade steps off along Braidwood’s Main Street on Sunday July 16 at 1 p.m.

Craft and Flea Market

Once again, visitors on Saturday and Sunday will have a chance to browse for goods from crafts and candles to flags and toys, and everything in between. But, this year there will be more to see.

“One thing we are extremely happy about this year is that our Flea Market, Arts and Crafts Show is going to be the largest it’s ever been,” Bolatto said. “We’ve got 80 vendors this year which is huge for us to say the least. Prior to this year, 58 was our top number so we are excited that we’ve had such a good response. We actually had to stop accepting additional vendors because we’ve only got so much space to work with. I think we’ve had to turn away another 15-20 so far who have called after the cutoff. We’ve never had this problem before but it’s a good problem to have in our opinion. We’ve got a good mix of vendors this year so there’s sure to be a little bit of something for everyone.”

Bolatto noted that all the traditional Summerfest activities and favorites will be returning this year like the baby contest, pie eating contest, car show, Pete the Fun Guy and Linda the Face Painter, bingo, food court, Knights of Columbus concession stand, the BBSA youth baseball tournament, fireworks display and more.

The Braidwood Lions Club Facebook page has all of the up-to-date information on what is going on each day, and the Lions encourage folks to visit both Facebook and the Summerfest page on the Lions website, www.braidwoodlionsclub.org.

“All of our dedicated volunteers have been working hard behind the scenes planning and preparing for our annual festival which is our club’s largest fundraiser of the year,” Bolatto said. “The amount of dedication and passion they put in to making Summerfest possible is something that we couldn’t be more thankful for. We begin setting up on the Saturday before the fest and continue each day all the way through Thursday afternoon and then go right into the festival operations throughout the weekend.”

Summerfest kicks of at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 13.