Mallory Manning of North Aurora and her husband Jason visited Batavia Saturday in order to take part in the city’s annual Windmill City Festival for their first time ever and liked what they saw.
“This is something close by and we just got done playing soccer,” Mallory said while eyeing her 4-year-old son Owen. “I’m actually a librarian at the Batavia Public Library and wanted to check out our booth. We’re going to have something to eat and Owen’s going to go down the big slide when it opens.”
Batavia, which was once recognized as the greatest producer of windmills in the world, according to officials, is celebrating its history this weekend with the festival, an event that grew from a sidewalk sale held back in 1956. The event runs through Sunday along Batavia’s Riverwalk.
Once known as Boo Boo Days until its name was changed in 1978, Windmill City Festival now stretches over three days and attracts more than 10,000 visitors.
This year’s event includes many of the yearly favorites including the food and beer garden, nightly music on the main stage, a pet competition featuring various categories including best costume, highest jump, best kisser and more, as well as a sidewalk chalk contest for kids.
Denise Brigham of Streamwood brought her dog Hairy Pawter to the pet contest which kicked off at noon Saturday. Carried in a “spaceship” and dressed like an astronaut, his owner declared the tiny Pawter a flat-out winner.
“Hairy is a trained therapy dog and he visits children’s hospitals and nursing homes throughout the Chicagoland area and has over 20 different costumes that he visits the people with,” Brigham explained. “This one is his spaceship. He doesn’t really do any tricks but he’s being entered in the best costume. This will be his 102nd costume contest and he’s had 101 wins.”
Debbie Gentry, director of marketing and public relations for the Batavia Park District, said even more attractions were being offered after the festival was canceled during the pandemic in 2020 and moved to later in the summer last year due to scheduling issues.
“The Windmill Festival has traditionally been the second weekend in July and we’re bringing things back like our carnival rides that haven’t been here for at least half a decade,” Gentry said. “There are also some partnering events like our Diaper Derby where babies see how fast they can crawl which was organized by the Batavia Mothers Club Foundation and a community bike washing event on Sunday offered by the Park District and the Batavia Bicycle Commission.”
The popular golf challenge where participants try to hit a ball onto a floating green in Depot Pond also returned. Last year the event was canceled “as water levels in Depot Pond were too low.”
Gentry admitted there are a lot of fairs and carnivals throughout the area but for people in and around Batavia, Windmill Festival is where locals want to be.
“If you live in Batavia, this is the largest summer celebration that involves the whole community,” she said.
Paul Johnson of Bloomingdale, who co-owns the amusement park ride business known as Funways, said he was glad to be back in Batavia despite the fact that “every week we’ve got something we’re doing.”
“It’s not just here – we’re in Wisconsin and Indiana but we’re happy to be back here,” Johnson said. “We’ve got about seven pieces of equipment today and may get another one in. It’s very nice as they have some good walkways here and I definitely feel these attractions are one of the things people come for. People are tired of being cooped up and they want to come out and participate.”
Visitors like Mark McElligott of Batavia said he and his family have enjoyed the fest many times before and called it “a very popular thing every summer.”
“This is probably smaller than some of the other fairs in the area but this also is a smaller town, and I think it’s well attended by people around here. You see a lot of friends and neighbors,” he said.
McElligott also reflected on the Batavia Park District’s decision to add some extra security and do bag checks as well as limiting access to the park, following the tragic mass shooting on Monday at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park.
“I really haven’t thought about the extra security here but I did think about it last week while watching the news,” he said Saturday. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it. I’m sure they’ll be checking purses and things more tonight.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
