Enjoy free candy corn, visit a circus or see a show in the Illinois Valley – Shaw Local

Here are 5 things you can do this weekend.

1. Sweetcorn Festival: The Mendota Sweet Corn Festival is in its 77th year and will be held downtown Thursday through Sunday. The festival includes a fair, market, food vendors, live entertainment and of course, free sweet corn served fresh, hot and buttered at the intersection of Illinois Avenue and Jefferson Street at 2 p.m. Sunday. The fair is open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The Sweet Corn Festival parade begins at 1 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit www.sweetcornfestival.com.
2. Wenona Days: The village on the border of La Salle and Marshall counties will continue its festivities Thursday through Sunday, with a family night of activities on Thursday, live music on Friday and Saturday and the big parade on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Chestnut Street. On Saturday, fireworks from the coal pile are planned for dusk. The Boat Drunks will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Veterans Pavilion, playing music by Jimmy Buffett, originals and other covers from Little Feat to Johnny Cash and the Beatles. The Route 66 Band, which plays rock music of the ’50s and ’60s as well as classic country hits, will take the Veterans Pavilion stage at 8 p.m. Saturday. For the full Wenona Days schedule and festival updates, visit facebok.com/wenonachamber.
3. Culpepper & Merriweather Circus: The circus grounds open at 4 p.m. Friday at Eagle Park, west of 880 Commercial St., Marseilles. Pony rides, bouncy houses, a large slide and face painting are available. The circus show, a 90-minute event, begins at 5 p.m., with another show scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to watch the big top being set up at 11 a.m. Tours will also be available at that time, allowing visitors to get a behind-the-scenes look at the care of the animals. Tickets are $16 for adults and $9 for children and seniors on the day of the show and can be purchased at the circus box office one hour before each show.
4. “Newsboys”: Streator’s Engle Lane presents “Newsies – The Broadway Musical,” beginning with a show Sunday at 2 p.m., then Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Aug. 13-16, at the William C. Schiffbauer Center for the Performing Arts, 1012 Columbus Road. Tickets are available at englelane.org or by calling the box office at 815-672-3584 Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
5. “Disney’s High School Musical Jr.”: The performance on Stage 212, featuring a talented, all-youth cast, will be performed at the theater, 700 First St., La Salle, Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at the box office Monday from 4 to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, or by calling 815-224-3025 during the same hours. Tickets can also be purchased online at. www.stage212.org.

Would you like to have your event highlighted in this weekly feature? The first step is to submit your events to the Illinois Valley Community Calendar at shawlocal.com/illinois-valley/local-events.