What’s New for the 2016 Scarecrow Fest in St. Charles
It’s still a few weeks away, but there’s a lot of new stuff coming up at the 31st annual Scarecrow Fest in St. Charles.
Presented by ComEd and cited as one of Country Living Magazine’s top Fall Fests for 2015, Scarecrow Fest will take place Oct. 7 to Oct. 9 in downtown St. Charles. All of the signature events that make this fest unique and memorable will be present, including a full roster of live entertainment and returning popular headliner bands.
New events include a vintage auto display by St. Charles’ own Baltria Vintage Auto Gallery. Baltria will display part of its diverse inventory at the fest this year, feature professionally carved pumpkins and other activities all weekend. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, you can paint with All Things Art Studio on its collaborative multimedia scarecrow. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, you can enjoy a children’s craft with the St. Charles History Museum and then an activity with Camp Kane from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The family fun continues with a petting zoo and Glowby the Bubbler creating bubbles of every size.
This year, the Arcada Theatre is celebrating 90 years of entertainment, and has loaded the fest stage with acts of all kinds for all ages each day. All performances will take place in the Arcada Theatre Zone (Lincoln Park at 4th and Main Streets). The entertainment lineup includes top bands 7th Heaven, 97Nine, and Billy Elton!
See the Scarecrow Contest, featuring over 100 competing scarecrow creations entered by families, individuals, clubs, businesses, and not for profits of all kinds in the Arcada Theatre Zone. This year the Clubs/Not-for-profit/Individual category will award seven entries, giving contest participants even more chances to win. There is still time to enter, but you need to act fast: The deadline is Sept. 30.
New this year, the Topgolf Action Zone will feature Topgolf’s Golf Game Simulator for a chance to win prizes. It will also host the Fox Valley Ice Arena Challenge and a photo op area for social media fun! From noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Miss Illinois will make a special appearance.
The Jewel-Osco Zone will host the very popular pumpkin decorating for kids and opportunities to win prizes at the Jewel-Osco booth. Don’t miss demonstrations by St. Charles Gymnastics Academy on Saturday and Sunday, and carnival rides provided by Windy City Amusements. A wrist band special is available from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday and from noon to 4 p.m. Friday.
The Make Your Own Scarecrow event returns this year, but will have two locations each day of the fest in the Baltria Vintage Auto Zone and in the Topgolf Action Zone. The ever popular Autumn on the Fox Arts & Crafts Show, with handmade arts and crafts from more than 150 exhibitors, will once again take residence in Pottawatomie Park.
Admission and parking are free. Fest guests are encouraged to take advantage of the free shuttles from The Quad (formerly Charlestowne Mall) and School District 303 parking lots. The trolley route will extend to Pottawatomie Park this year.
For more information about Scarecrow Fest, visit www.ScarecrowFest.com.
About the Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau
The Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau is funded by the Illinois Office of Tourism and a portion of the hotel/motel tax collected by St. Charles hotels to promote Greater St. Charles as a destination for leisure tourists and meetings and conventions, sports events, and motorcoach trips. For additional information regarding the bureau’s marketing and sales activities, contact the bureau at 630-377-6161, 800-777-4373 or www.visitstcharles.com.
