August is crammed full of activities in the Rock River Valley as the last month of summer takes hold.
We’re listing some of the higher-profile events today. For dozens more happenings this month and coming months, go to the Events Calendar at rrstar.com/go. There, you also may add your group’s events.
Aug. 1-5
Ogle County Fair: Opening at 2 p.m. Aug. 1 and running through Aug. 5, Ogle County Fairgrounds, 1440 Limekiln Road, Oregon; carnival ride wristbands included in $6 gate admission, with ages 2 and younger free at the gate but a $3 wristband must be purchased at the fairgrounds office to ride on carnival rides; carnival ride times vary; animals, tractor parade and pull, draft horses, Ogle County Queen Contest, tigers, motorcycle stunts, rodeo; 815-732-6972; oglecountyfair.com.
Aug. 1-5
“9 to 5: The Musical”: 8 p.m., Starlight Theatre at Bengt Sjostrom Theatre, 3301 N. Mulford Road, Rockford. Cost is $20, $17 for students and seniors. 815-921-2160; tinyurl.com/la45nn.
Aug. 2
New Edition, a 30-year-old RB group including Bobby Brown, ex-husband of the late Whitney Houston, 7:30 p.m., BMO Harris Bank Center, 300 Elm St., Rockford. Cost is $75, $49.50 and $35; 815-968-5222; thebmoharrisbankcenter.com, box office.
Aug. 3-5
Festa Italiana: 5 to 11 p.m. Aug. 3, noon to 11 p.m. Aug. 4 and noon to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 5, Boylan Catholic High School, 4000 St. Francis Drive, Rockford. Cost is $5, free for ages 12 and younger when accompanied by an adult; carnival, Italian foods, bocce tournaments, entertainers including Amici Italiani Dance Troupe, Mr. Big Stuff, Radio Stars, Audio Drive and more; griaa.com.
Aug. 4
Peter Frampton: 8 p.m., Davis Park, 320 S. Wyman St., Rockford. Cost is $25 to $75; Frampton’s “Frampton Comes Alive!” is one of the top-selling live records of all time. 815-968-5222; thebmoharrisbankcenter.com and the BMO Harris Bank Center box office at 300 Elm St., Rockford.
Fairy Festival: presented by and benefitting Rockford Dance Company and Womanspace, 5 to 8 p.m., Womanspace, 3333 Maria Linden Drive, Rockford. Cost is $20 at the gate or $15 in advance, $15 at the gate or $10 in advance for ages 4 to 12; advance registration until Aug. 3. Rain date is Aug. 5. Stroll the grounds and art galleries while “fairies” lead a scavenger hunt through the gardens, the pine forest and Labyrinth. Dance company members will entertain. Make a fairy crown and wand to take home. There will be complimentary light refreshments. Buy fairy books from Wonderland Books Toys. Guests may arrive at 4:30 p.m. and bring their own picnic and lawn chair or blanket for the performance. This event has sold out in years past. 815-877-0118; womanspace-rockford.org.
World Famous Figure 8 Trailer Race, 7:07 p.m., Rockford Speedway, 1601 West Lane Road, Loves Park. Cost is $15 to $24; $5 to $12 for ages 11 and younger; 815-633-1500; rockfordspeedway.com.
Aug. 7-12
Boone County Fair: Open to the public typically about 10 a.m. each day with carnival open about noon, and buildings typically closing between 9 and 10:30 p.m., with carnival rides available later if there are riders, Boone County Fairgrounds, 8791 Illinois 76, Belvidere; gate admission is $5 on Aug. 7; $6 Aug. 8-12. Grandstand highlights include queen pageant; farm, truck and tractor pulls; ATV racing; pro-bull riding; Rodney Atkins on Aug. 11; demolition derby. Grandstand seating costs extra except for queen pageant; 815-544-2900; boonecountyfair.com.
Aug. 11
Rick’s Picks: A Lifelong Affair with Guitars Music: a display of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen’s memorabilia including a video enhanced tour of one of Rock n’ Roll’s largest guitar collections, as well as guitars and interviews from rock legends, Dave Grohl (Nirvana Foo Fighters), Slash (Guns N Roses), Todd Rundgren, Conan O’Brien, Chuck Prophet, Aerosmith, and more to benefit Burpee Museum of Natural History, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Aug. 11 to April 10, Burpee, 737 N. Main St., Rockford. Cost is $18, $15 for Winnebago County residents, with prices including $10 admission to the Burpee, free for ages 3 and younger; family pack of four for $70 (includes free membership to Burpee for a year); VIP night on Aug. 10 costs $125 a ticket and Nielsen will be there; 815-965-3433; burpee.org; rickspickslive.com.
Art in the Garden: 6:30 p.m. cocktails, 7:30 p.m. seated dining, LaPaloma Gardens, 3622 Brookview Road, Rockford; Clutch Cargo band will entertain. Dress is summer casual. Cost is $175, or $250 or $500 to be listed as an event contributor. Reservations needed by Friday. If it rains, event will be at Rockford Art Museum, 711 N. Main St., Rockford, which is the beneficiary of the event; 815-398-6498, 815-972-2870; rockfordartmuseum.org.
Aug. 14-19
Winnebago County Fair: 4 p.m. to midnight Aug. 14, 10 a.m. to midnight Aug. 15-18, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Aug. 19, Winnebago County Fairgrounds, 500 W. First St., Pecatonica; $2 admission on Aug. 14, $5 for adults Aug. 15-19, various prices for children, seniors and special price for military on Aug. 17; animals, music, semi-tractor pulls, motocross, rodeo, talent show, more; 815-239-1641; winnebagocountyfair.com.
Aug. 18-19
Black Family Reunion: noon to 6 p.m., Levings Lake Park, 1420 S. Pierpont Ave., Rockford; free admission; parade, music, food, celebration involving area churches and choirs; 815-601-6904.
Aug. 19
Polish Fest: 11:30 a.m. to dusk, with 10:15 a.m. Polish/English Mass, St. Stanislaus Parish Grounds, 201 Buckbee St., Rockford. Free admission. This is the 31st year with entertainment by The Julida Boys, Lombard Band and Syrena Polish Folk Song and Dance Ensemble. Polish sausage and sauerkraut dinner will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Other festival-type food will be available, along with ethnic Polish offerings including pierogi, potato pancakes, Polish sausage, and sauerkraut. Polish pastries will also be available. There will be games for children and adults, including pull tabs, bingo and inflatables. Cash raffles and a basket raffle will be held. The John Paul II Cultural Center in the former school building will be open for visitors to view two rooms of artifacts from Poland. 815-965-3913; saint-stanislaus.com.
Aug. 23-25
Two Rivers Jam Bluegrass with folk and country music provided by bands that are not paid, Northern Illinois Coon Fox Club, 12314 Harrison Road, Harrison. Show from 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 23 and Aug. 24, with jamming alongside campers after the show at 9 p.m.; concessions open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 25, with one show from noon to 5 p.m. and an evening show from 6 to 10 p.m., with jamming afterward. Breakfast Aug. 26 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Bring your acoustical instruments to join in. This is an outdoor event. It is the 29th year for the jam. Bring lawn chairs. Camping is $15 a night with electricity; $5 without. No alcohol allowed. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. 815-335-2592; tworiversbluegrass1983@yahoo.com.
Aug. 24-26
Cherry Valley Days Festival: 5 p.m. to midnight Aug. 24; 9 a.m. to midnight Aug. 25; 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 26, Baumann Park, 218 S. Walnut St., Cherry Valley. Buttons good for all three days and cost $5 in advance, $6 on Aug. 24 and 25, $3 on Aug. 26. Carnival, bands, pie-eating contest, bingo; 815-332-2152; valleydays.com.
Aug. 25
Party at Frank’s House, a fundraiser to fix the roof and other things at the Laurent House, designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright: 5 to 10 p.m., at the home at 4646 Spring Brook Road, Rockford. Cost is $125. It is the first public viewing of the house that will be turned into a museum in 2013. Take a tour of the home and enjoy food and drink provided by Mary’s Market, Javamania, Zammuto’s and sugarjones, and dance music performed by Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans. Wright-inspired outdoor sculptures by local artists will be auctioned. 815-395-6752; facebook.com/laurenthouse.
Aug. 26
WWE Raw’s World Tour: 7 p.m., BMO Harris Bank Center, 300 Elm St., Rockford. Cost is $15 to $95. Scheduled to appear, though performers are subject to change, are: John Cena vs. The Big Show, CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan, Santino Marella, Zack Ryder, The Divas, and more; 815-968-5222; thebmoharrisbankcenter.com.
Aug. 30-Sept. 2
On the Waterfront: Several blocks in downtown Rockford are blocked off so that musicians and others can perform on several stages and streets and at Davis Park, 320 S. Wyman St. The festival kickoff is Aug. 30 with The Offspring punk band. Cost is $32.50 for reserved seats, $79.50 for the first three rows. Lawn seats will go on sale at a later date. The Waterfront’s festival pass for admission to the Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 downtown Rockford festival does not apply.
For the remaining headliners at Davis Park for the three-day festival, you can sit on the lawn for festival admission price only. Admission is $15 for all three days if you get your tickets by end of day Aug. 30. You pay extra for reserved seats. You can buy one three-day festival pass to get three people into the festival on one day, for example, or you can split the pass other ways. But a volunteer at the gate must be the one to rip the ticket apart. You pay $15 a day at the gate after Aug. 30.
Other Waterfront headliners: Billy Currington, country, Aug. 31; Creedence Clearwater Revisited, classic rock, Sept. 1; and Theory of a Deadman, modern rock, Sept. 2. For tickets: 877-569-7767, onthewaterfront.com. For more information, call 815-964-4388.
Georgette Braun: 815-987-1331; gbraun@rrstar.com