Batavia is in the spotlight this weekend as one of the longest-running festivals returned to the area around the Batavia Depot Museum beginning Friday night.
The Windmill City Festival, which runs through Sunday, is now in its 46th year. It replaced Boo Boo Days that was launched back in 1956 as a discount shopping event for Batavia residents.
Allison Niemela, executive director for the Batavia Park District, said the Windmill City Festival continues as an all-out community event that includes music, carnival rides, food trucks, a 5K run, a pet competition and more.
“Boo Boo Days was all about sidewalk sales only from downtown merchants whereas in 1978 when it became the festival, the park district took it over and had a carnival, recreational games, a main stage and food vendors – the whole nine yards as it remains today,” she said.
Organized by the park district and the city of Batavia, Niemela said over the course of the weekend a total of 16,000 people are expected to attend the festival.
“We have a regional draw from the western suburbs,” she said. “We have the live entertainment, carnival rides, food trucks and our popular golf challenge event where people try to chip a ball on a small floating green in the water.”
A popular pet competition returned Saturday at noon on the main stage at the fest, featuring “pets of any kind – furry or not so furry,” Niemela said.
“We’ve had chickens entered, iguanas, cats, dogs, you name it,” Niemela said. “There are five categories people can enter including best kisser, best trick, highest jump, best costume and most unusual. We have judges that will give out prizes.”
Over the years, Niemela said a number of unusual pets have graced the stage from a bearded dragon to a miniature horse.
“We had a family who owned a farm and brought a brood of chickens and one had laid an egg, so we counted that as an extra pet – an extra credit,” she said.
The goal of the annual festival, Niemela said, is “to connect the community to one another and really create an environment where people have a reunion of sorts.”
“They can be in a friendly, safe environment and there is something for everyone whether they are 6 or 90 and something for every palate to taste and every participant to partake,” she said.
Tarra Fielder of Batavia brought Aura, a 6-year-old dog who was dressed as the character Anxiety from the movie “Inside Out 2,” to the fest for the pet competition.
“I entered my dog last year in the Best Kisser category, but she didn’t do that well in that one,” Fielder said. “We didn’t practice anymore, we just dressed her up differently.”
Ella Pitk of Downers Grove came with her son and daughter and said all three decided to stop by Batavia and “see what’s going on.”
“We wanted to stop by the museum and see that and now that we know there is a pet competition we actually thought about going back home and getting our cats,” she said.
Pitk’s daughter Alicja Machaj 10, said she “likes walking around and looking at the festival.”
Wayne Polek of Batavia said he has lived in town for seven years and despite living right behind the festival venue, he doesn’t mind the noise.
“It’s always nice to get people together with all the long winter months we have and the spring rains and all that nonsense with the weather,” he said. “I enjoy listening to the concerts and meting people and it’s nice to get them together and have a nice time.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
