Five Things to Know About Montgomery Fest

If you live in Montgomery, you know this already, but here goes: Montgomery Fest is this weekend.

The annual celebration of all things Montgomery kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday at , near River and Mill streets. It promises to be a great time, with new events happening pretty much every hour. And food aside, it’s all free.

Hundreds of people are expected to attend this year, so it’s best to be prepared before you go. Here are five things you should know about this year’s Montgomery Fest:

1. It may rain. The National Weather Service is predicting a 60 percent chance of showers on Saturday, with thunderstorms likely. The high temperature on Saturday is expected to be somewhere around 78 degrees. Sunday has a better outlook—a slight chance of showers, with a high near 77 degrees. Montgomery Fest will go on rain or shine, but it might be smart to bring a raincoat and umbrella, just in case.

2. Parking and shuttles are available. Visitors to Montgomery Fest can park in the Lyon Metal lot at 420 N. Main St. and the lot at 200 N. River St., on the Main Street side. Handicap parking will be available in the lot just north of Village Hall on River Street.

You can also take a shuttle to the fest—they’ll be running from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., and can be picked up at the Douglas Square Shopping Plaza, on Montgomery Road; , at 1500 Briarcliff Road; and , at 2301 Lakewood Creek Drive. Return shuttles will pick people up at the corner of Mill and River streets.

3. There are a million things going on this year. A full schedule is available at the village website, but here are a few highlights: There’s a diaper dash (essentially a young kids’ race) at 10:30 a.m. a touch-a-truck competition at 11 a.m., a fire department water fight at 1 p.m., and a concert by Steve Sharp and Wake the Sheep at 7 p.m., all on Saturday. And there’s a performance by the Jesse White Tumblers at 2:30 p.m., a show by Smokin’ Gunz at 6 p.m., and a full fireworks display at 9 p.m. on Sunday. Whew!

4. You can take a trip back in time. While all of the above is going on Saturday, a group of local history enthusiasts will recreate Montgomery’s own Camp Hammond near on River Street. The group, the 36th Illinois Infantry Volunteers, will perform period-authentic drills and show what life was like during Civil War times at the army camp. Read a full story on that .

5. And yes, there’s a parade. It starts at 1 p.m. in the Lyon Metal lot at 420 N. Main St., and travels south on Main Street, east on Watkins Street, north on River Street, west on Mill Street, and finish up back at Lyon Metal. The reviewing stand will be in front of Village Hall on River Street. This year’s Grand Marshal is Clarence Bark, the longest-serving member of the village’s Plan Commission—he was appointed in 1979, and still serves on it today. Clarence and his wife Jeanette have lived in Montgomery since 1958.

All right, that should be what you need to know. Oh yeah, your faithful Patch editor will also be running around trying to shoot, edit and post one video an hour for 10 hours straight on Saturday, so if you see him, give him some water. And follow his progress on Patch.

See you at the fest!