Grove Fest Gets the Go-Ahead

The Village Council voted unanimously to allow the Rotary Club of Downers Grove to mount an expanded version of  Grove Fest in the central business district.

The privately run festival began last year as a fill-in for the village-sponsored Heritage Fest, which was cut from the budget in 2009 after 28 years.

Rotary proposed a replacement fest in April 2010, only months before it was scheduled to begin. While the inaugural Grove Fest was “a very successful and very safe community event,"visitors can expect some changes in 2011, said Todd Gallentine, Rotary president.

“We’ve gotten feedback from the website, downtown merchants, and people on the streets for what they would like to see for this coming year,” Gallentine told the Village Council March 8.

An increased number of rides, more participating restaurants and businesses, and the addition of a craft fair are among Rotary’s planned improvements. Most noticeable, however, will be the changes to time and place.

Grove Fest was held in July last year, but in 2011 will move to the traditional weekend of Heritage Fest, June 23 through 26. This summer’s Grove Fest will occupy more space than the 2010 version, and will take place primarily on Main Street between Rogers Street and Curtiss Street; Warren Avenue from Washington Street to Main Street; and Burlington Avenue from Mochel Drive to Forest Avenue.

“I’m really happy to see it expanding,” Commissioner Marilyn Schnell said. “Last year it just felt really, really cramped.”

The planned changes promise a festival that more closely approximates the Heritage Fest experience.

The 2009 Heritage Fest attracted  approximately 100,000 attendees, according to its annual report. Commissioner Geoff Neustadt, who chairs the Community Events Commission, did not know exact attendance numbers for last year's Grove Fest, but did say they were less than expected. This year, Rotary expects 25,000 to 30,000 attendees.

“Everything about it was smaller,” Neustadt said of last year's event. “The time frame to plan and schedule the event was decreased, the physical and geographical layout of the event was smaller, the advertising and marketing was not as broad as it was in the past.”

Neustadt heard from residents that the initial Grove Fest had too few food vendors overall and too many vendors located in the pay-to-enter beer garden. He said those issues have been addressed by Rotary.

As in 2010, Rotary must reimburse all village costs associated with the event and must provide a 120 percent line of credit in advance. The village projected an estimated cost of $30,480, meaning Rotary’s line of credit will have to be $36,576.

For 28 years, Heritage Fest was June tradition in Downers Grove. With a troubled fiscal situation, Neustadt said, the council realized in 2009 having a publicly funded event was no longer feasible.

“Having a festival with sacred and much needed property tax dollars wasn’t in the cards for our village,” Neustadt said.

Mayor Ron Sandack expressed gratitude that the Rotary “stepped up.”

“Last year was really nothing short of a wonderful event given the ridiculous time restraint and the prevailing circumstances,” Mayor Ron Sandack said. “Obviously with experience and more time, they have decided to expand it and it sure looks a heck of a lot like Heritage Fest.”

Grove Fest will open Thursday night, June 23, with amusement rides from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. On Friday, rides are open from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. All other activities start at 5 p.m. The fest runs from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, with the craft fair running from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Grove Fest wraps up Sunday from noon to 10:30 p.m. The car show opens at 10 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m.