Illinois International Film Festival

Discover bold, daring independent films at this celebrated festival showcasing underground cinema at Chicago's iconic Gene Siskel Film Center. The 18th edition brings together filmmakers pushing creative boundaries with audiences hungry for fresh, unconventional storytelling.

What started as a response to bare roadsides in the early 1960s has blossomed into Dixon's defining pride. When Dutch Elm disease stripped the highways of their leafy canopy decades ago, the local Men's Garden Club rolled up their sleeves and planted 4,000 petunias along South Galena Avenue—a bold move that transformed the landscape. Year after year, the project grew, spreading across miles of roadways until pink blooms became woven into the fabric of this Illinois community. These days, thousands of petunias paint the town in shades of rose and magenta from spring through the crisp days of autumn, earning Dixon the official title of Illinois's Petunia City. The flowers brighten more than two miles of highway entrances and main streets, creating pockets of warmth that feel especially welcoming as winter approaches and the blooms fade. The effort spans generations—nearly everyone in Dixon's 15,000-person community has contributed something to keeping this living legacy thriving. What began as one club's vision has become a shared accomplishment that visitors and residents alike return to celebrate year after year.

The Fox Valley Folk Music & Storytelling Festival is held each year at beautiful Island Park, a 13 acre island in the Fox River located in downtown Geneva, IL, (about 45 miles West of downtown Chicago). The main parking area for the Festival is at the Kane County Government Center is at 719 S. Batavia Avenue, (IL Rt. 31), in Geneva. The Chicago & Northwestern METRA Railway station is also located three blocks west of the festival's entrance.

Experience the magic of America's riverboat heritage at this beloved Labor Day weekend celebration in Marietta, Ohio. Watch roughly 25 magnificent sternwheelers gather on the water, enjoy live entertainment and delicious food, and cap off the festivities with spectacular fireworks lighting up the Ohio River. It's the perfect getaway to step back in time while celebrating the town that birthed the American Sternwheel Association.

September. American Indian culture celebrated with powwow, arts and crafts, traditional food.

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds. The race is known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" for its approximate duration, and is also called "The Run for the Roses" for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the US and typically draws around 155,000 fans. <a href="en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>