A bigger, flashier drone show, an expanded Hispanic Heritage Month celebration and the another year of Nightmare on Chicago Street are on Elgin’s special events docket for 2024.
There also will be more movies in the park, more concerts in the park featuring Hispanic music and the return of community-led celebrations like Elgin Pride Parade and a Juneteenth festival, according to the schedule presented this week to the Elgin City Council.
The calendar of events reflects the feedback Elgin received while conducting a multiyear market study and five-year strategic plan with the assistance of consulting firm Create Today. A key recommendation in the study and plan calls for the investment of $1.5 million into cultural arts and special events over the next five years.
Such an investment would increase event programming by 36% and public art by 25%, Kate Scorza Ingram, founder of Create Today, told the council Wednesday.
Hemmens Cultural Center would see a 28% increase in concerts, comedy shows, theater performances and other programs, taking advantage of the renovations currently underway at downtown venue and helping Elgin get back on the touring circuit, according to Amanda Harris, director of cultural arts and special events.
The income generated could help offset the money the city is providing, which is part of this year’s 2024 budget and represents a .04% increase over what was spent last year, Scorza Ingram said.
Elgin’s Fourth of July festivities this year will include a new dog parade, according to city officials. (Gloria Casas/The Courier-News)
“These will only be possible and successful with an additional investment by the city,” Scorza Ingram said.
Investing in arts and cultural programing can be economically beneficial, according to An Americans for the Arts study. The study found arts and cultural programming generated $8.5 million in economic activity for Elgin in 2022, Harris said. Of that amount, $3.7 million was spent by audiences attending city cultural arts and special events, she said.
A second important recommendation is the creation of a nonprofit foundation to work with the Cultural Arts Commission, Harris and Scorza Ingram said.
Because the commission is part of the city government, it can’t apply for grants, Scorza Ingram said. By creating a separate nonprofit body to so on the city’s behalf, Elgin could generate an estimated 81% increase in funding for cultural arts, she said.
While Create Today’s study outlines a lot of other changes, “this will not happen all at once” but over the course of five years, Harris said.
“We cannot bite off more than we can chew,” she said of the plan, which is awaiting future council approval.
Some of Creative Today’s study recommendations were implemented last year, including an increase in the number of Movies in the Park, some of which were chosen to appeal to a more adult audience. The number of Concerts in the Park went from four to 11 and more Hispanic bands were added to the lineup, Harris said.
This year they’re also planning to introduce an acoustic concert performance at Lords Park, she said.
The city’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration in mid-September is being rebranded into a two-day event called La Fiesta de Elgin.
“Festival Park will be transformed into a small version of Mexico City,” Harris said. There will a caravan, a recreation of El Grito, traditional ballet folklorico dance groups, banda performances, art, pinatas and food trucks, she said.
The End of Summer Bash in August will have a Candyland theme in which attendees will be immersed in a life-size Candyland board game complete with a peppermint forest, a licorice maze and an ice palace. A Taylor Swift tribute band and a Disney cover band are scheduled to perform and there will be food trucks on site.
A drone show, which wowed a crowd of 6,000 when it debuted last year, returns this year. Plans call for it to have more drones and to be 10 to 15 minutes long.
The Fourth of July parade, with a vintage American theme, will include a new dog parade along a shortened route, Harris said. Fireworks and a concert will be held at Festival Park that evening.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
