This year’s Willow Fest in Willow Springs combines two festivals — the longtime west suburban summertime celebration Willow Fest and the newer Blues Fest, which debuted a few years ago.
The festival begins July 24 and wraps up July 27 and the addition of the blues doesn’t mean any of the longtime fan favorites of Willow Fest are going anywhere. The popular event draws thousands of attendees and this year, event organizers say they expect another packed downtown.
As always, the four-day event will still kick off with a car show.
“We have 120 to 180 classic cars,” said village administrator Ryan Grace.
Beyond the cars the festival has food, vendors and music each and every day, starting with the popular Chicagoland Beatles tribute band, American English as the Thursday headliner.
Friday is the big night for country and classic rock fans, with Billy Gray, a country act steeped in tradition, taking the stage at 6:30 p.m. and then Infinity at 9 p.m. Infinity started as a Journey tribute band but, over the years, the Chicago-based group has become a popular all-around classic rock tribute outfit.
Saturday is the first full day of the fest and it kicks off with something a little quieter.
From 10 a.m. until noon, Grace said the festival is open to attendees with disabilities and among those disabilities, people with sensory issues.
“That’s free and it’s for anyone with disabilities and it’s no sound and low lights,” he said. This is one the few summer fairs with a time set aside for sensory-sensitive people, and he said it draws about 100 people and it’s always popular.
“It’s something our mayor is adamant that we do,” Grace said. “We get volunteers from our Lions and Lioness Clubs. It’s a fun part of the carnival for us.”
Saturday is also the blues day, and Willow Fest organizers let the Windy City Blues Society take the reins. As soon as the quiet part’s over—the blues music begins.
“That’s from lunchtime until the show ends at 11 p.m.,” Grace explained.
The whole music lineup for that day can be found at https://windycityblues.org but the headliner Saturday are the Cinelli Brothers—two Italian brothers and their London-based blues band.
Sunday, the event winds down with another day of music. The last band is Arra, another classic rock tribute band and then, as is tradition, fireworks put the cap on another Willow Fest.
The festival is headquartered at 1 Village Circle, in the heart of Willow Springs.
“We’ve just recently redone the grounds. We’ve paved every road down here with permeable brick pavers,” explained Grace. “And we just wrapped that up.”
Just in time for Willow Fest.
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.