Arts & Entertainment
Naperville Park District Offers New Summer Events
Farmers Market, Night at the Movies, Rock the Hill and Rx for Nature are new for 2018
Naperville Park District has a full calendar of free, outdoor events from neighborhood concerts to a brand new 95th Street Farmers Market.
What’s New in 2018:
Naperville Park District and the 95th Street Library are partnering to host the 95th Street Farmers Market, offering locally grown fruits and vegetables and homemade breads, jams and other items. The Market will be held on Thursdays from 3:00-7:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the 95th Street Library, located at 3015 Cedar Glade Drive in Naperville. The Market opens June 7 and continues through September 27. New vendors are welcome to apply to join the market even as the summer progresses. Interested farmers may apply online at www.napervilleparks.org/farmersmarket and can contact Andrea Coates at acoates@napervilleparks.org with questions.
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Free, outdoor entertainment will expand this summer to include A Night at the Movies, a series of family-friendly movies in the park. Movies will begin at approximately 8:30 p.m. in June and July and earlier in August and September, depending on the time of darkness. Movies, dates and locations are as follows:
- June 1 – “The Parent Trap” – Rotary Hill, 443 Aurora Ave.
- June 30 – “National Treasure” – Rotary Hill, 443 Aurora Ave.
- July 14 – “Finding Nemo” – Frontier Sports Complex, east side, 3415 Book Rd.
- August 4 – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” – Rotary Hill, 443 Aurora Ave.
- September 22 – “Monsters, Inc.” – Rotary Hill, 443 Aurora Ave.
Additionally, a new event, Rock the Hill, will present a free concert at Rotary Hill on Friday evening, August 3 featuring the band OMT.
Find out what's happening in Napervillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On Sunday, August 12 from 12:00-4:00 p.m., Knoch Knolls Nature Center will host a new event, the Rx for Nature Festival. All ages are invited to enjoy this free festival which will offer fun outdoor activities that also improve your health. Guests can participate in mini-sessions of yoga, meditation and fitness classes such as Zumba, and experts will be on site with information about hiking, gardening, canoeing, biking and fishing.
Back by Popular Demand
The 12th annual Frontier Kite Fly Festival, presented by Naperville Moms Network, will be held at Frontier Sports Complex on Sunday, June 3 from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. A free event, the Kite Festival offers fun for all ages and a rare opportunity to view gigantic kites flown by kite enthusiasts from Chicago Kite. Participants also can practice flying their own kites and get how-to-fly tips from the experts. Kids can watch the skies as well for the piñata-like Sky Kite, which drops candy several times during the day.
Unlimited inflatable jumping is available for $5 and festival-goers may purchase food and beverages at a variety of food trucks on site. Food trucks at the event may include Aurelio’s pizza, Kona Ice treats, TCBY, and John’s Rib House.
The Millennium Carillon will present its annual Summer Recital Series on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. from June 5-August 21. Carillonneurs from Naperville and from all around the world will perform, while audiences are invited to picnic on the lawn and enjoy the free music.
The Concerts in Your Park series bring family-friendly music to different parks throughout the community on Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Concert locations and music styles were selected based on the results of online voting by residents earlier this year. The 2018 schedule is as follows:
June 10 – Midwest Dueling Pianos at Queensbury Greens, 1520 Brookdale Rd.
June 24 – Fletcher Rockwell at Gartner Park, 524 W. Gartner Rd.
July 8 – Final Say at Ashbury Park, 1740 Conan Doyle Rd.
July 15 – One Foot in the Groove at Arrowhead Park, 711 Iroquois Ave.
July 22 – Spoken Four at Walnut Ridge Park, 2304 Keim Rd.
July 29 – Sushi Roll at Tall Grass Park, 3512 Grassmere Rd.
Children’s Lunch Hour Entertainment provides fun, interactive shows for kids and their families on Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m. Locations alternate between the Riverwalk Grand Pavilion, located west of Centennial Beach at 912 Sindt Ct., and Frontier Sports Complex, located at 3415 Book Rd. Performances are as follows:
June 12 – Todd Downing, Riverwalk
June 19 – Istvan & His Imaginary Band, Frontier Sports Complex
June 26 – Super Stolie, Riverwalk
July 10 – Scribble Monster, Frontier Sports Complex
July 17 – Jeanie B., Riverwalk
July 24 – Miss Jamie from the Farm, Frontier Sports Complex
With the introduction of new events in 2018, the Park District will no longer offer Rollin’ on the River. Additionally, Shakespeare in the Park, originally scheduled for July 13, was cancelled for 2018, due to the availability of key personnel in the Midsummer Theatre Troupe.
