We can only hope that the city of Urbana continues to improve upon its recent trend of creating and sustaining events in the downtown area. Certainly, the Sweetcorn Festival has a niche, and despite the fact that they charge a 500 percent markup (roughly — it used to be totally free) on an ear of corn, the festival is still a good thing for the C-U community, and traditionally marks the end of a quiet summer with the large crowds; the university students have just arrived in town and generally mill about with the townies.
Lisa Bralts-Kelly has done wonders with the Market at the Square each Saturday, and while the crowds continue to grow, one can only wonder if the area that they use will need to be expanded in the coming years?
On Saturday June 28, Fluid Motion Productions, helmed by Jeff Grant and Perry Davidson, brought us the first year of what very well might become one of the finest traditions of them all: Blues, Brews and BBQ.
Let’s hope for a cheaper ticket price next year (it was a whopping 20 chips just to enter), more food vendors and a bigger lineup. For year number one, however, this was a great thing: plain and simple.
Chicken quarters from Foudini’s
Photos by Seth Fein