PrairieFest brings out competitors of all sorts
By Jenette Sturges jsturges@stmedianetwork.com June 13, 2012 4:56PM
PrairieFest highlights
ALL WEEKEND
PrairieFest Expo Village — Area crafters, businesses and freebies for visitors. Thursday, 5-9 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday 11-8
Windy City Amusements Carnival — Thursday 6-10 p.m.; Friday noon-10 p.m.; Saturday noon to 11 p.m.; Sunday 1-5 p.m.
THURSDAY
5:30-6:30 p.m. Oswego Prairie Winds Concert
8-10:30 p.m. Wedding Banned — Over-the-top music show on the Main Stage
FRIDAY
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Activities for kids and families
6:30-8:30 p.m. Country band Back Country Roads performs on the Main Stage
9-11 p.m. 7th Heaven, Chicago rock band, performs on the Main Stage
SATURDAY
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Activities for families and kids
4 p.m. Bucket Brigade Festivities
4-5 p.m. Music, dancing and prizes with the Radio Disney Road Crew
8:30-10 p.m. Gin Blossoms headline the Main Stage
SUNDAY
8 a.m.-4 p.m. PrairieFest Car Show
8:30 a.m. PrairieFest 5K & 1 Mile Prairie Dog Jog at Prairie Point Center
1 p.m. PrairieFest Parade — WSPY review stand in front of the old Fire Barn on Main Street.
3:30 p.m. PrairieFest Bed Races
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Oswego’s PrairieFest kicks off Thursday but it you happen to sleep in, you don’t have to worry about missing out entirely.
Bed races are new to the festival this year — and they are the closing event on Sunday afternoon, which means even those with perpetual bedhead will be able to join in on the festivities for charity.
Teams of five will build and push their own beds on wheels. Friends, neighbors and local companies are encouraged to enter teams for $50 each and name a charity benefactor. The race also includes a high school division.
But that’s not the only contest this year. Oswegoans will compete for titles in hot dog eating, water bucket tossing, cars, quilts and a run with their dogs.
Those less inclined to competition can kick back for food and entertainment at PrairieFest Park.
Early ’90s pop band The Gin Blossoms, who recorded the hit single “Hey Jealousy,” will headline the main stage on Saturday night.
Local talent will also be offered, including performers from dance, theater and gymnastics groups from around Oswego and teen rock band Cash Inn on the Main Stage.
And Montgomery resident Colin Sullivan hopes to capture audiences — and a Guinness World Record — by balancing an 8-foot ladder on his chin.
The 21-year-old has already won prizes for his feats of balance and chin-strength, including $20,000 and a lifetime supply of gum, for balancing various items — a wheelbarrow, keyboard and ladder among them — on “Live! with Regis and Kelly.”
Sullivan has to properly document at least one minute with the ladder on his chin to break the record, and will make his attempt Saturday evening.
Gate admission to PrairieFest is free all weekend. The first event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with a concert by the Oswego Prairie Winds at PrairieFest Park, 91 Plank Road, Oswego.
More information, including contest registration, parking and amenities is available at prairiefest.com.
