Events

• Friday Events
• Saturday Events
• Sunday Events
• Homestead Talent Showcase
• PJWC Baby Contest
• Festival 56 Presents...
• 5K Run/Walk
• Parade
• Car Show
• 50/50 Raffle
• Concerts
• Food

Rainout Locations:

- Bureau County Fairgrounds
- Princeton High School Gym
- Bureau County Metro Center
- Festival 56 Theatre
- St. Louis Gym

Event Locations and Directions

Location Maps and Driving Directions can be found on our Maps Page!

Friday Events

Power Plant Open House

10AM - 2PM

Free safety town demonstration, BPL sign-ups, smart-meter display and demo, CFL give away and door prizes. Catered lunch.

Check often for additional information about this event.

Museum Tours

MUSEUM TOURS will be given on Friday, September 9th only by the Bureau County Historical Society from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

The museum consists of two buildings that are next door to each other: the Clark-Norris Home, a handsome Prairie Square mansion built in 1900, and the Newell-Bryant House, a stately Greek Revival house dating back to 1853.

A fifteen member Board of Directors and the museum director govern the activities of the Bureau County Historical Society, a not-for-profit organization which depends entirely on memberships and donations. Annual or life memberships in the society can be purchased.

For additional information visit their website at www.bureaucountymuseum.com/visitors.

Window Display Contest

HOMESTEAD FESTIVAL COMMITTEE WINDOW DISPLAYS are a great opportunity for the area collectors, historians, businesses, organizations or clubs to promote themselves and to display any hidden talents or treasures. The theme for the display contest this year is "Let Freedom Ring".

The Steering Committee loves to see all the windows along Princeton's Main Street decorated to welcome the many people who come to Princeton for our wonderful Festival. Business owners who do not decorate their own windows are invited to make their windows available to clubs/organizations and collectors/historians looking for space for their displays.

This year's theme promises to be a fun one with a million possibilities. Our goal is to entice customers into our businesses with their own unique display of our theme.

Future information will provide businesses with details on how to sign up; deadlines; judging dates and contact information. All winners will be announced on Friday, September 9, 2011 during the Homestead Festival Announcements at 6:00 p.m. at Soldiers and Sailors Park.

Download A Registration Form Here!

Prairie Arts Center Exhibit & Play

5:00PM - 8:00PM
Prairie Arts Center Gallery ~ "Harold Steele/Harvest" handcrafted farm and home tools

4:00PM - Ten Thousand Thunders at the Prairie Arts Center Theater
Come celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Owen Lovejoy's birth at the Prairie Arts Center Theater. This reader's theater performance, written by local author and playwright Trey R. Barker, is based on the 1843 trial of The State of Illinois vs. Owen Lovejoy.

Performances are Sat. Sept 3 at 7 pm, Sun Sept 4 at 3 pm, and during Homestead Weekend Fri, Sat, and Sun Sept 9-11 at 4 pm. Tickets are $10. To reserve tickets, please call the Prairie Arts Council Ticket Line at 815-200-4789. For more information, please visit www.theprairieartscouncil.org.

Any questions please contact Linda Gustafson at 815-872-9181.

Owen Lovejoy Homestead Tours

OWEN LOVEJOY HOMESTEAD TOURS are FREE at the Homestead on East Peru Street from 1:00-5:00 p.m. There will also be FREE tours on Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11th.

A Former Station on the Underground Railroad, the Lovejoy Homestead was the home of the Denham and Lovejoy families for nearly 100 years. Reverend Lovejoy was its most famous resident and occupied the house from 1838 until his death in 1864. For additional information visit their website at www.lovejoyhomestead.com.

Princeton Junior Women's Club Pulled Pork Barbecue Dinner and Ice Cream Social   

Pulled pork barbecue dinner and ice cream social at Soldiers and Sailors Park from 5:00-9:00 p.m. or until the food is gone.

More information coming soon!

Bureau County Community Choir   

Sponsored by Princeton Family Physicians

Have your lawn chairs in place on the Court House Lawn by 5:45PM-6:15PM to enjoy the music and talent of the Bureau County Community Choir directed by Joy Schertz.

Homestead Festival Announcements   

Soldiers and Sailors Park is the perfect location to gather on a Friday evening to enjoy a supper of pulled pork barbecue and an ice cream social provided by the Princeton Junior Womens' Club while listening to the Homestead Festival Announcements at 6:15PM.

At 6:15PM the Homestead Steering Committee will be introduced and then they will have the pleasure of presenting the Grand Marshal; Princeton Junior Women's Club Baby Contest Winners and the Window Display Winners.

Start your Homestead Festival Weekend at Soldiers and Sailors Park!

Bourbon Street 5 Plus 2

Sponsored by Piehl Chevrolet-Buick-Cadillac

After the Homestead Festival announcements stay where you are and enjoy this Dixieland Band from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Bourbon Street 5 Plus 2 has been playing upbeat music around Illinois for 30 years. Instruments in the group are trombone, saxophone, trumpet, tuba, clarinet, drums and tambourines. Their jazz style is toe-tapping, lively music that is a real crowd pleaser.

Twilight Horse-Drawn Wagon Rides

Sponsored by Pioneer Production Plant

Enjoy a ride around the courthouse and down the historic Main Streets of Princeton starting at Soldiers and Sailors Park from 6:30-9:00 p.m.

Festival 56 Presents "The Guys"

Sponsored by Norberg Memorial Home.

For More information about the Festival 56 "The Guys", please follow the link below!

Jaycees Beer Garden and Entertainment

Friday evening September 9th the Princeton Jaycees Beer Garden will be held at Darius Miller Park with the gates opening at 8:00 p.m. and music and entertainment by Snap Shot from 8:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.

Come out on Friday Night and enjoy your favorite rock hits! Additional information about Snap Shot can be found on our Concerts Page

The Princeton Jaycees are very excited to have local bands with great followings at their beer gardens this year. The Beer Garden will feature Budweiser and Barcardi and will be held rain or shine. There is a $5.00 cover charge so come enjoy the music at this annual event.