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Date: 2009-07 RIVERFEST EXPRESS AND TROLLEYFEST- TWO GREAT CELEBRATIONS AND ONE GREAT TIME! It’s fun, it’s inexpensive and it’s close to home. Join your neighbors at the village of South Elgin’s Riverfest Express Aug. 13-16 and the Fox River Trolley Museum’s Trolleyfest Aug. 15-16! The two celebrations take place side-by-side, just off Route 31 in South Elgin. It’s the 13th year for Riverfest Express, which takes place in Panton Mill Park, near Route 31 and State Street. It’s 29 years for Trolleyfest at the Fox River Trolley Museum, three blocks south of State Street on 31. This year’s Riverfest Express lineup includes Sunday night fireworks, food and beverage booths from more than a dozen local restaurants, music, carnival rides and attractions, fun and games, a car show and a craft show. And once again, everything that can run will run at Trolleyfest. It’s a combination designed to delight young and old. Each year, the Fox Valley’s most special children get a night of their own to preview Riverfest Express. This year’s “Special Night for Special Children,” dedicated to physically and mentally challenged children and their families, is Wednesday, Aug. 12. Children who register and their families will enjoy free carnival rides, food and entertainment, provided by local businesses and volunteers. The Special Night, which was awarded the 2002 Governor’s Home Town Award, draws more children each year. To be part of this special night, you must register your child in advance. A registration form can be downloaded from the Riverfest Express Web site, at http://riverfestexpress.net/kids_application.htm, or calls can be taken at (847) 774-1151. Riverfest Express opens its doors to the general public at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14, with carnival rides and food vendors. At 7 p.m., Modern Day Romeos opens Riverfest Express with a three-hour, high-energy musical journey that will include past and present hits. The doors open Friday at 5 p.m. Velocity performs a hard-rock set that includes covers of bands ranging from Aerosmith and Bon Jovi to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Led Zeppelin at 7 p.m. on the Main Stage, and Party Freak, one of the Chicago area’s premier party bands, follows from 9:30 p.m. until midnight with a mix of classic rock, country hits and dance hits, fronted by MC Scottay and the irrepressible Dynamic Deena. On Saturday, Trolleyfest swings into high gear at the Trolley Museum, with rides beginning at 11 a.m. and lasting until 6 p.m. On both days, Chicago “L” cars and interurban (inter-city) electric railway cars built between 1902 and 1959 will be in operation, and the Museum’s 1891-vintage Chicago streetcar RPO, a post office on wheels, will be on display. Tickets both days are $3.50 for adults, $2 for seniors and children 3-11, and children under 3 ride free. All-day tickets are also available. For a separate $1 fee, visitors also will be able to pump up and down a track on a genuine handcar at Blackhawk station, in the Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve. Tickets must be purchased separately for Trolleyfest and the carnival rides. Carnival tickets are not good on the museum’s trolley cars, nor will museum tickets be accepted by Windy City Carnivals. The Riverfest Express food vendors and carnival rides begin at noon. On Saturday, Riverfest Express visitors can check out the Craft Show and Small Business Expo between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., featuring area service organizations, crafters, small businesses, antique and collectible dealers. On the Main Stage, Teen Rock House begins the day at noon, followed by an ice cream-eating contest and fastest- dummer contest, both at 1:30 p.m. At 3 p.m., Throwback performs old favorites, followed by one of Chicagoland’s premier 70s Disco-Funk-Motown tribute band, 7 Deez, at 6 p.m. and the Billy Childers Band, playing country, from 9 until 11 p.m. Riverfest Express and Trolleyfest close Sunday night, but there’s plenty to do all day. Trolleyfest again runs 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Riverfest Express food vendors open and carnival rides begin at noon. The Car Show runs 12 noon until 4 p.m. in County Park, featuring antique, classic and sports cars of all types; and the Craft Show and Small Business Expo again runs 11 a.m.-5 p.m. On the Main Stage, the Village Idol Finals begin at noon. Peace plays at 1 p.m., Liberty’s Teeth rock ‘n roll from the past, present and future between 3 and 4:30 p.m., Jackie Lawson’s Hillbilly Rockstars take the stage at 5 p.m., a southern Illinois-based band that play favorites from such country stars as Leann Rimes, Deana Carter, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless and Sugarland. Reillys hits the stage 7:30-9:30 p.m., before a fireworks show closes out Riverfest Express at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information on Riverfest Express, call (847) 774-1151. For more information on Trolleyfest, call the museum’s information line, (847) 697-4676. 
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