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    Arlington Heights Frontier Days

    3.7 (23 reviews)

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    4 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    15 years ago

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    8 years ago

    Fun time. Good place to bring the family. Usually good concerts and decent selection of games and food.

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    11 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    10 years ago

    A fun time for the family, rides, food and music. Fun rides for kids and food and music for the adults.

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    8 years ago

    Great music a fun time for the family. Me and my family go every year and enjoy the pony rides and the petting zoo then the day show.

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    12 years ago

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    Ask the Community - Arlington Heights Frontier Days

    Review Highlights - Arlington Heights Frontier Days

    One of the busier 4th of July Festivals in the area, Frontier Days also has some of the most options for things to do or see.

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    Downtown Palatine Street Fest - Wedding Band playing at dusk.

    Downtown Palatine Street Fest

    (7 reviews)

    Waited in line for food for 30 minutes only to be told, they only except cash or Venmo what are we…read moredrug dealers? Left it don't need it not coming back again

    This was really a lot of fun. We got to hear two bands - the first "Wedding Band", was a pretty…read moregood cover band. They all wore t-shirt tuxedos (a little tacky), but their music was good. At 10 pm the headliner came out - they were called the "Cherry Poppin' Daddies" out of Oregon somewhere. The name put us off a little (no- a lot). Their music was what I would call "suggestive" but their style could be classified as swing. This was not what a Saturday night crowd of several thousands wanted to hear. Not sure why Palatine chose them and not a rock band. Needless to say, a lot of people left during their performance. Now, the festival itself was great - Palatine festivals always get a great turn out. There were the regular information booths from insurers, politicians and window replacement companies. The food tents represented the best of Palatine - I had Pad Thai from Siri Thai and a hamburger from Heybeck's. Both were outstanding. Finally, the beer garden was packed. We set up chairs by the stage, but trans-versed the crowds to get beer several times. All I can say is there was no way to get to the beer tent easily. Oh, it was a straight shot. But there were so many people and the music was so loud, in many cases you had to push your way through. The craziest thing was the way they cordoned off the beer garden. The main entry was about a 30 foot long metal plank on the south of the area. There was one other entry point to the east. The porta- potties were set up to the northwest of the beer garden which I think makes sense. But, there was no entry between the two. In order to go from one section to the other, you had to leave the beer garden from either the south or the east, then walk all of the way around until you got there. It was not convenient. But, overall, it was a really good street fest which I will definitely go to again next years. My hope is that the people who put it together take these two points into consideration. If they corrected these, it would be a 5 star experience.

    Hometown Fest - Hometown Fest

    Hometown Fest

    (2 reviews)

    I'd call it a rinky-dink festival but it was actually really fun and the musical acts were nothing…read moreto scoff at, especially for the price (FREE!). I really liked it because not only did they put on a great FREE fireworks show on Thursday (July 3rd) evening, but even during Saturday's headliner (Howie Day) it wasn't even close to mildly crowded and the sound was actually really good. We liked the music acts so much that we actually came by twice in one day to catch this ZZ-Top sounding band along with Howie Day and a fun girl cover band that all play in the Fred P Hall outdoor Amphitheater (Palatine's hidden gem). The fest food is nothing to write home about beyond the slices from JJ Twiggs. Otherwise you're stuck with like 6 different quesadilla and fried food vendors. Soda and water is $1, and there's a beer tent with various Miller and Mike's Hard products. We chose to BYO in a discreet thermos, but I don't actually know if that's allowed or not. There are some vendor tents but we avoided those altogether- seemed like a few church things and pampered chef vendors, homemade loom type things. There was this really cool wood carving guy but since I'm moving soon we tried not to fall in love with any extra wares. I think the biggest draw of the fest is the kid-friendly factor teamed up with the rides, which ranged from tot-friendly to downright terrifying, but I really have to give it up to this fest because I did not think it was possible to transform this park in to such an massive entertainment and amusement park.

    This is a great local community festival 4th of July weekend paid for by a local community…read moreorganization the Palatine Jaycees for the residents of the community. My family and I have attended the festival each year for the last 10 years. This event is over 50 years old and gets better each year. There is food vendors, a carnival, beer booth, and great local bands. Tip don't set up a blanket on the field for the fireworks prior to 8AM on the 3rd.

    Palatine Food Truck Frenzy - Pizza Boss

    Palatine Food Truck Frenzy

    (1 review)

    This was great and it was bad at the same time. I don't go to too many festivals so when saw this…read morewas going to be in downtown Palatine, just a few miles from our home, we opted to go. The disappointment was the number of trucks. There were about seven or eight. Four or five of them had food, one had drinks, two had desserts. I had food from two of them - I had a pulled pork sandwich at the Best Truckin' BBQ and the three tacos combo at Mario's Cart. The food was good, but the waits were very long. I went to the BBQ cart early and didn't get my sandwich for 40 minutes. And, when I went to Mario's Cart a couple of hours later, even though I walked right up to the window, there were about 30 people waiting for theirs to be served. There were too few trucks for the number of people who showed. I later learned there was another Food Truck Festival in Elgin at the same time. I suppose that is where the rest of the trucks were. The great part of the fest was the band. Really, it was a separate event at the Palatine Bandshell, but it took place as soon as they closed the trucks. The band was called "Morry Sochat & The Special 20's" - they played a mixture of Blues Rock and Blues. I have to say they were really great. The musical talent on the stage was really wonderful. We went with a large group of friends and even ran into some people we knew while we were there. The music was great fun. The festival should/could have been better.

    Mitsuwa Bon Odori Japanese Summer Festival - Outside

    Mitsuwa Bon Odori Japanese Summer Festival

    (5 reviews)

    Mitsuwafest was not all I had hoped it would be. Tons of people walking around like they think it's…read moreComicon and others in kimonos - it was quite an interesting group of attendees at this festival. I do have to say I was jealous of the Hello Kitty masks people had. But $6 for a flimsy Halloween style plastic mask I'll never wear again ain't happening! There were only about 5 stands for food items - octopus balls, ramen, chicken on skewers.I was lucky enough to have my Japanese friend with me so she was able to translate the food signs. Had she not been there, we wouldn't have been completely certain of what we were getting as signs were not in English. Everything I had was good but I definitely expected there to be more food options. I may venture to say that the food in their regular marketplace is better, as well. We went inside during the fest to get some green tea soft serve...sad. The place was completely packed with not enough activities or performances to fill the time. It was mostly just standing around...waiting in longggg lines for food. The festival was completely packed to the brims but it was nice to not have the usual drunk, rude festival goers that you see at other city fests. I did enjoy the drum show but hate to admit that my friends and I rolled out after about 10 minutes watching the drums. The good about the festival is that it's free! It's in the suburbs and will give you a little somethin' somethin' to do that's not the norm. I do suggest coming early to get a parking spot as the later it gets, the harder parking is to find. Now this wasn't my first time going to the fest, but those of you who haven't gone before, hopefully you can be well prepared for next year!

    I look forward to attending the Bon Odori Festival every year! Tsukasa Taiko (#TaikoLegacy)…read moredrumming is definitely an entertainment highlight, as is the Bon Dance! The kiddos who do karate also break boards and this year did a nunchuck/swordfighting demo to The Rocky theme!!! YES! They are the most adorbs! And fierce. Definitely fierce. (Please don't beat me up!) ^_^ People-watching is supreme! There are all kinds of cute families, kiddies and adults in kimonos, and cosplayers. Food is plentiful and affordable (btwn. $2-5): ramen, yakitori, takoyaki (ah-maZing aaaand the longest line!), gyoza, SPAM musubi, curry, sno cones, cotton candy, and sooo much more! Note that the fest ends at 8pm, so I would NOT count on food being available last-minute. There are sales in Mitsuwa Marketplace during the fest as well. My ONLY desire? That they could add some recycling bins and do away with the styrofoam containers. Overall, the Bon Odori Festival is a great cultural experience with lots of affordable food! Bring the whole fam!

    Japan Day Chicago - Awa Odori Chicago dancers teaching the dance.

    Japan Day Chicago

    (1 review)

    A fun filled day, get your japanese fix and bet in horses to boot. Cant beat that. The booths that…read morewere set up gave a great intro into japanese culture. The performances and the performers did a great job. The food was good, reasonably priced, or a heck of alot better price compared to track food. They even had the elusive takoyaki which I absolutly love, its octopus dumplings, and tastes much better then one would think. There was also okonomiyaki, line was to long so sadly didnt get a chance to try that. Rounding out the food were ramen dishs. There were booths that sold Japanese products from toys for kids to books that taught japanese. The event staff were all friendly, especially the tshirt sellars. They worked hard to sell those shirts. I bought 2. Next to the tshirts you could fill out a survey for the festival and get free crackers, rice or wheat. I chose rice and my picky niece who never tries anything new nearly ate the entire package. I came to the festival mainly for the Awa Odori Chicago groups dance, its one of those things in life that justs puts a big smile on my face. Sadly, it started to rain heavy and this event was slightly pushed back. There was a break in the rain and 3 people from Awa Odori Chicago started to teach how to do the dance and wouldnt you know it, the rain came back. So my group decided to leave since it did not look like the rain would end. So I left and 30ish min after I left it was clear skies. Ugh!! Oh well there is next year. I do want to also mention that there was a cosplay contest. Many people who attended the festival dressed up. Great costumes and the cosplayers were happy to be photographed, even with others. You saw many people wearing traditional yukatas and kimonos, as well as the ability to try them on and get photographed in a yukata or kimono. Lastly, there was a great japanese band I also didnt get a chance to see, Funkist. Would have been a great treat for an old anime nerd. Overall I had great time even though nature had its own plans. I do recommend going next time the Japan Day Chicago event is going on.

    Arlington Heights Frontier Days - festivals - Updated May 2026

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