Adrian Sudol of Elburn and his family made sure on Friday night to go the Elburn Days festival held over the weekend in Elburn.
“We’ve been coming for at least 20 years to this festival. I love the atmosphere. You don’t see carnivals in the woods and the grass, usually it’s in a parking lot,” Sodul said. “They usually have good bands here too.”
The Elburn Lions Club once again offered the annual Elburn Days, which ran from Friday through Sunday at Elburn Lions Community Park.
The fest had to close early on Saturday due to the storms that hit the area, but was back in action on Sunday.
The festival was launched back in 1933 when the Lions Club held the event under the name “A Day in the Park,” which later changed to Elburn Days.
According to the Lions’ Facebook page, this year’s version again included “live music, carnival rides, truck pulls, mud volleyball, beer garden, craft show, free children’s vision screenings” and more, and remains the Elburn Lions Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
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Outgoing Elburn Lions Club President John Collum served as chairman of the fest.
“Between Lions and volunteers, we have anywhere from 125 to 150 people out here working during the three-day period,” Collum said a few hours before Friday’s opening of the festival.
Collum called the remaking of Lions Park for the event “an amazing transformation from the grass and trees to this incredible festival that we’ve put on.”
He added that despite Elburn’s small population, the expected crowd this year of 100,000 over three days “isn’t surprising at all.”
“I’m not shocked and I’ll tell you why: it’s because it’s such a great event and people know that when they come to Elburn Days they really get a bang for the buck,” he said. “The food vendors are of great quality and we have great acts that come out. It’s really a great place to go and spend some family fun for a long weekend.”
Entertainment, the carnival rides and the food remain the top features of the three-day event, Collum said, noting that “much of the food is cooked fresh on-site.”
Phil Gladd of Elburn was once again manning the beef stand at the fest, something he has done for more than a decade.
“It’s kind of a labor of love,” he said.
Gladd said it is great to see people coming back year after year and stopping by to say hello.
“They like our steak sandwiches,” he said on Friday. “We bought 800 this year to sell and they’ll all be gone. We’ll do about the same with the pulled pork. The best part is seeing people you know again.”
Lisa Stahura of Hampshire said she has come the last three or four years to Elburn Days.
“Everyone here is very friendly, very communal in terms of trying to help one another and offer assistance when needed,” she said.
She also said people always seem to support the mission of the Lions Club.
“People here aren’t closed off and it’s really very open and friendly and people always come here with a great attitude,” she said. “I think everybody really rallies for the Lions. A lot of people are really driven to help the Lions and get their goals met every year.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.