Right in Our Region
Petunia Festival Returns with Gusto!
“B
By Peggy Werner ig City Festival. Small Town Heart” is the theme of this year’s Petunia Festival July 2-4 in Dixon, Ill. The cancellation of the festival last year due to the pandemic has only strengthened the community pride and involvement that goes into planning the event each year, says Jenna Dempsey, vice president of marketing and a past president of the Dixon Petunia Festival Committee. “We see people appreciating what we’ve taken for granted for so long,” says Dempsey. “Everybody is ready to have a festival again. Even though it was difficult last year, more people than ever were asking how they could help.” With more sponsors and businesses participating than in past years, and an array of local musicians to be featured at the July 4th celebration, Dempsey is proud of what her community has been able to
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Smart Living Live
accomplish despite the pandemic. The Dixon Petunia Festival Committee starts planning for the festival in December. This year, they had to be “cautiously optimistic” that pandemic restrictions would relax by summer. “With all the local support, it just proves how amazingly talented our community is and how everyone pulled together to make this happen. If you live in Dixon, chances are you have participated in some way,” Dempsey says. Illinois moved into Phase Five of the COVID-19 plan on June 11, which removed all pandemic restrictions, notes Jennifer Bubrick, president of the Petunia Festival Board of Directors. Still, to increase people’s safety, sanitizing stations will be set up around the grounds and cleaning crews will work hard to keep high-touch areas clean, says Bubrick. General admission tickets will be
June 2021 • No. II
To advertise call 815-316-2300
sold at the gate for $10. Admission is free on Sunday. Festival highlights include the North American Midway Entertainment Carnival at 5 p.m. Thursday (before the festival begins) and Friday and from 1 p.m. to close on Saturday and Sunday on Lincoln Statue Drive between Dixon High School and the riverfront. The parade, with the theme “Home for the Holidays,” will step off at 1 p.m. Sunday, traveling from St. Mary’s Catholic School on Galena Avenue north to the high school. There’s still time to enroll in the parade at petuniafestival.org. Fireworks will be at 9:30 p.m. Sunday on the riverfront and the music accompanying the display will be broadcast on River Country 101.7FM radio. A traditional pancake breakfast will be served from 6 to 11 a.m. Friday through Sunday at Dixon High School.
