Elgin’s Nightmare on Chicago Street is back from the dead.
Two weeks after voting to cancel the Halloween event, the Elgin City Council reversed course Wednesday and approved holding the zombie apocalypse party downtown Oct. 22.
“Are you confident this can be done?” City Councilman Corey Dixon asked Special Events Coordinator Kate O’Leary, who previously recommended the event not be held this year because of increased costs, volunteer shortages and the potential that bad weather could result in low turnout.
“Yes, I am. We can do it,” O’Leary said.
The vote to move ahead was 6-2, with council members Rose Martinez and Toby Shaw voting against it.
Downtown business owners, Nightmare volunteers and fans of the event filled the council chambers to voice support for festival, which had been held annually since 2012 until the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020 and 2021.
Staff recommended the event’s cancellation again this year based on several factors, the biggest of which was the 51% increase in expenses since it was last held in 2019. It’s estimated the fest this year will cost about $500,000.
Business owners and others said the expense and work was worth it.
“We all want Nightmare,” said Greg Shannon, owner of the Elgin Public House on East Chicago Street. “We want to do everything we possibly can to help the council, to help staff make it all work.
“The economic impact on that day is phenomenal,” he said. “It’s not only that day. It’s that week, that month. It’s people that you meet downstate that say, ‘Oh, Elgin, that’s the place that does that Halloween thing.’ That’s the kind of impact we need for this city and what we need to keep doing and pushing for.”
Red Poppy Bistro’s Matthew Habib said understands the financial concern but also understands the “need to pivot” as the situation demands.
“Every small, independent entrepreneur and business owner has had to live through the apocalypse for the last two years,” Habib said. “We’ve had to jump through hoops, through mandates, and we’ve had to come up with quick, on-the-fly fixes for problems that we didn’t know existed.”
Like business owners, the city needs to adjust and find a way to make Nightmare happen, he said. “We cannot afford to lose the last great festival that we have,” he said.
The initial vote to cancel was 4-3. Dixon and Councilman Steven Thoren changed their votes from no to yes. An additional yes vote came from Councilman John Steffen, who was not at the April 13 meeting.
Thoren and Dixon said they changed their minds based on feedback they received from residents, business owners and civic leaders.
But Martinez said she remains concerned there’s not enough time available to organize the event and staff and volunteers will bear the strain.
“It takes a lot to pull together that we can’t even imagine,” she said.
Beyond that, COVID-19 remains a potential problem since no one knows what conditions will be like six months from now, Martinez said.
“We proceeded cautiously to keep our community safe,” she said. “We are continuing to move forward with health being our priority. I still support the staff’s recommendation to wait until 2023 when we can host the event as it deserves to be hosted.”
The rewards make it worth the risk, business owners said.
Rich Wagner said he keeps his Rediscover Records on South Spring Street open the night of the party, and he and other businesses make a lot of sales before and after it’s held.
“Hardly a day goes by without someone bringing up Nightmare on Chicago Street in my shop,” Wagner said.
“For us and the organizers, this is like a love letter to Elgin, but instead of flowing words and flowers and poems and candy, there’s coffins, blood and zombies. There’s such a passion involved in this. It’s palpable,” he said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
