Taste Of Joliet, Dennis DeYoung, Rick Springfield Arrive

JOLIET, IL - On Thursday morning, your Joliet Patch editor parked his car in the lot for Joliet Memorial Stadium and then used a rowboat to make it into the stadium. OK, OK, it wasn't that bad. But there was a constant downpour as dozens of stagehands were helping Brad Staab and the Joliet Park District set up for this weekend's annual Taste of Joliet.

It's Joliet's biggest event of the summer.

Rain or shine, Taste of Joliet will go on. And Friday night is big. The concert features Dennis DeYoung and The Music of Styx taking stage at 7:30 p.m. Everybody loves Styx. Then, the main act, Rick Springfield, who always puts on a heck of a show, plays at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday's music lineup is pretty impressive too. It features Chris Lane at 5:30 p.m. Chase Rice at 7:30 p.m. and Brothers Osborne at 9 p.m.

Staab: "A general admission ticket gets you into the festival. You can walk around, visit the carnival, you can also see all the concerts as well," Staab told Joliet Patch during an interview in the rain on Thursday.

Me: "And with the weather, what are they saying for this weekend?"

Staab: "Ha, ha, ha, ha. It's gonna be perfect! We're working through the rain today but it looks like it's gonna be all right, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we'll get through this and we'll be ready to see everybody this weekend."

To watch my brief video interview with the Joliet Park District's Brad Staab, scroll to the bottom of this article.

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor