Banner weather arrived Friday and Saturday for Skokie’s Backlot Bash in downtown Skokie, but Sunday evening rain and lightning stopped a band’s performance.
An estimated 16,000 to 20,000 people were expected over the three-day event weekend, said Jon R. Marquardt, superintendent of facilities for the Skokie Park District and organizer for the past two years of Backlot Bash. The event takes place along Oakton Street.
“I’ve been a part of this since its inception 15 years ago,” Marquardt said, adding 2020 was a COVID-19 pandemic bye year for the event.
The bash launched in 2007 to showcase Skokie and includes a 5K dash, rides, headliner entertainment, food, a sponsor and community resource fair and more.
The weekend event honors Skokie’s heritage as a silent movie set in that era.
Marquardt said the local area was a sound stage for Charlie Chaplin.
“But then you fast forward, and Skokie is so diverse, one of the most diverse communities in the Midwest, that you come to our event, today, and you’ll see everybody from every diverse background, having a great time, listening to music, just going on carnival rides,” Marquardt said.
“It’s like the melting pot, it’s right here in the middle of Skokie. It’s great.”
Rob Stewart of Skokie said he had no idea about the silent film history when he and his wife moved to Skokie 13 years ago.
“We didn’t know, but it was cool to learn about it,” he commented.
Sisters Lule Joyce and Melinda Hernandez, both of Skokie, accompanied their children to the Zero Gravity ride, a popular spinning attraction.
Hernandez’s children Laila, 12, and Lucas, 9, experienced the carnival with cousin, and Joyce’s daughter, Amaya, 14.
Being outdoors after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic was a welcome way to celebrate the end of summer, Melinda Hernandez said.
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The event “brings a little bit of normalcy for the kids to connect with their friends before the school year begins, ” she added.
On the Freak Out ride was Annabelle Mergler, 9, from Skokie, who said, “It was really high and when you hit the top, it like, felt like you were upside down.”
Annabelle’s father Sam Mergler observed, “This is our last hurrah of the summer.”
Rain arrived Sunday evening as Tributosaurus becomes The Kinks took the stage. They played a few songs, but had to leave the stage as lightning threatened.
