For festival-goers, DeKalb Corn Fest is ‘what we do’

DeKALB – DeKalb resident Blanca Ruiz said she’s been looking forward to Corn Fest, DeKalb’s largest end-of-summer free festival which will fill downtown this weekend with live music, fair rides and, yes, corn.

“I love it. It’s the food. The people,” Ruiz said. “It’s every year we have it. We got to support our town. It’s DeKalb, you know. The corn, basically. It’s what we do [to] support our town.”

Ruiz said she has the whole weekend planned out for her and her friends.

She said she intends to start at the festival by grabbing some jerk chicken from Jah Love Jamaica, then she plans to head back home where she and her friends will party in the garage.

“We look forward to this every year,” Ruiz said. “It’s like our thing.”

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Liam Forde, (left) 15, from Waterman, and Braeden Gosnell, 13 from Shabbona, ride Pharaoh's Fury in the carnival area Friday, Aug. 26, 2022, during Corn Fest in downtown DeKalb. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

Ruiz said she was beginning to worry about the fate of Corn Fest amid all the downtown construction this summer.

Traffic didn’t open up to three full lanes along Lincoln Highway until Aug. 19. Portions of the Lincoln Highway were closed at times to allow construction workers to expand sidewalks and bring the highway down to three lanes. City officials said the work is nearly complete now, and the roadways are cleared.

“I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Ruiz said. “For some reason, they amazingly got it done. We were kind of concerned about that. Like I said, we live down the street. So, we were getting annoyed by the construction, but they got it done.”

Another DeKalb resident Catalina Galindo was standing in line with her mom and her daughter preparing to buy a corndog from a street food vendor.

“I love corndogs,” Galindo said. “I put mustard and ketchup.”

Galindo said she has her whole first two days at Corn Fest all mapped out. She plans on trying her hand tomorrow at getting some free corn at the Chuck Siebrasse Corn Boil from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Galindo said it’s become a family tradition for her and her family to partake in Corn Fest.

The event has a Kid Fest, art fest for kids, bags tournament, touch-a-farm vehicle and family activities, all of which are family-friendly. A sound stage offers live music throughout the weekend, wrapping up at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Elsewhere on the festival grounds, DeKalb resident Ryan Burright was leaning against a stroller with his son in tow as his girlfriend placed an order at a jumbo corndog stand. He said he goes to Corn Fest practically every year.

“[It’s] probably the atmosphere, where it’s located,” Burright said.

Burright said he usually comes out for the first two days of the event. He said he doesn’t share the concerns some have expressed about the downtown construction and how it could have impacted Corn Fest.

“I wasn’t worried about it,” Burright said. “I kind of figured they’d have it done before Tuesday or Wednesday this week.”

Several craft vendors set up shop along Locust Street between Second and Third streets to showcase and sell items.

Rochelle resident Sharon Johnson was selling handmade jewelry and wood decor. She said this year is her first time setting up a booth at Corn Fest.

“I enjoy it. I like seeing people’s faces when they see them [jewelry] because they think they’re glass or plastic,” Johnson said, referring to the wood decor. “When I tell them they’re wood, they’re kind of shocked.”

Johnson said the process of making the wood decor takes five days. She said she tends to make four at a time.

“They all have hangers on the back,” she said. “Some people put them outside. Some people put them on shelves.”

The family-friendly festival runs through Sunday. To purchase tickets in advance or carnival rides of the sound stage, visit www.cornfest.com.