'Dire' DarienFest Fears Don't Come To Pass

DARIEN, IL — When it was announced that DarienFest would move to a new spot this year, neighbors said they feared the event would result in noise, littering, property damage and public drunkenness.

At Monday's Darien City Council meeting, Mayor Joseph Marchese read positive feedback about DarienFest.

Historically, the event had been held at Darien Community Park, but the park district refused to let it come back. So the event moved to Darien Plaza, 8109 S. Cass Ave., where Q Bar is. It was held last weekend, organized by the Darien Chamber of Commerce.

In an email to city officials, April Padalik, the chamber's executive director, called the fest a "huge success." A few thousand people, including many families with small children, passed through the event, she said.

"Many longtime DarienFest goers stopped by the Chamber Tent and commented about the venue change, but then would follow up with a compliment on the layout and the carnival," Padalik said in the email. "Many who have worked this event as a vendor or volunteer also liked that it didn’t involve a lot of walking, as everything was in close proximity."

She noted the concerns of businesses and homeowners along the west side of Cass Avenue about drunkenness, excessive littering and property destruction.

"As far as I know, none of that occurred!" she said. "I personally monitored the west side of Cass Avenue several times during the fest and did not observe anything out of the ordinary. At the close of the fest on Sunday night, I removed the 'No Parking' signs that the Chamber had posted along Cass Avenue and again observed nothing out of the ordinary."

Two weeks ago, Karen Rooney, manager of the Burr Ridge Veterinary Clinic, 8120 S. Cass Ave., was among those who expressed concerns about DarienFest at a City Council meeting. In an email to the chamber on Monday, she praised the event.

"I just wanted to let you know that despite our dire predictions, it seems that things went well for the fest," Rooney said in the email. "We appreciate you making the 'no parking' signs and also taking them away so quickly. Our staff assumed that there would be clean-up of the rides and parking lot going on today, and were quite surprised to find only the porta potties left (and they were gone before noon)."

She added, "I’m glad we were only open a few hours the fest was open — the thump thumping sound and the train whistle were pretty obnoxious. I’m not sure how much area residents could hear, but we were all glad to leave at 5 on Friday. I did have one Doctor who had trouble talking to a client in the parking lot during her curbside visit (she forgot her phone), but in the big scheme of things, this was a minor inconvenience. Congratulations on running a successful event!"