Festival festivities

NOW PLAYING | Tom Irwin

This weekend brings us festivals galore, bands all over town and a happening ALS benefit. Just around the calendar corner comes the Illinois State Fair and all the entertainment excitement it brings to the capital city. Let’s get to it.

The big event in Springfield on Friday and Saturday is the Downhome Music, Beer & Art Festival held on Seventh Street between Washington and Adams. This is the fifth year for the locally organized and presented event, featuring some 40 acts on five stages, at least 100 craft beer varieties plus art displays as well. Invented as an outlet for all-original rock bands, the neat thing about the Downhome Festival is where your money goes. You can purchase a ticket for $5 from a band member and the band keeps the dough. Yes, the charity here is the hard-working musicians. If you buy at the door ($7) or don’t designate a band with an online purchase, the organization puts the money in a kitty and divides up the cash to distribute to participating bands. Pretty neat deal, don’t you think? Americana favorites The Bottle Rockets, featuring Springfield’s own Keith Voegele on bass, headline on Friday and funk-punk-rock local kings NIL8 close the night on Saturday with an incredible range of local artists in between.

Also happening this weekend is the Decatur Celebration, celebrating 30 years of great music and good times in Decatur. The event has had its ups and downs, but keeps on rolling along featuring a heady mix of national and regional music acts, hordes of food vendors and a carnival atmosphere for the whole family. The Friday-through- Sunday happening hosts Kool & the Gang, Blues Traveler, Blackberry Smoke and Vanilla Ice as the big national names and Hurricane Ruth, Brooke Thomas & the Blues Suns, Dan Hubbard and Men of Essence as a few of the big regional names. The festival covers several city blocks in downtown Decatur, and some of the best times I’ve had at the celebration came from just seeing what’s going on around the next corner.

Also on tap for fun festival times this weekend are the Chapin Big Country Days in the small town near Jacksonville, and the Virden Annual Picnic just some 20 miles straight south on Route 4. Both events evoke Middle America at its best, with neighbors, strangers, kin and who knows who all gathering for good times with music at the centerpiece. I couldn’t find much specific information online on the Chapin event, once a showpiece for top shelf country music acts. Off the Wall (go Wallers) play Virden on Friday, and Tennessee Borderline headlines on Saturday.

In other happenings, Mowie’s Cue runs the table this weekend with F5 on Friday night and Powerhouse on Saturday. Zach Fedor keeps up his busy schedule with a Friday show at Koo Koo’s Nest with Young Luck, then he fronts the Backseat Drivers on Saturday at The Boar’s Nest in Athens, helping to break in the club’s new music performance and party area.

Sunday (after three days of great bands), the Curve Inn hosts the Kiss my ALS fundraiser from 1 to 6 p.m. Organized by ALS sufferer Lorie Eden and emcee’d by her husband Ed, the fun fundraiser features bands 11th Hour, Harmony Deep and Black Queen with the famous ALS Ice Bucket Challenge happening at 4 p.m. 20 percent of food and drink sales will be generously donated to fight the debilitating disease and silent auction items are available. Lori would like to remind everyone that the Curve Inn is wheelchair accessible, and this event continues every August until there’s a cure.

Have fun, stay cool and enjoy the music.

Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.