Dandelion Wine Festival pays homage to Ray Bradbury

WAUKEGAN – Ray Bradbury’s 23rd annual Dandelion Wine Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 4:51 p.m. Aug. 19 in Bowen Park.

The free event is a day of art in every form for the entire family.

The festival is presented by the Waukegan Park District Cultural Arts Division with sponsorship support from the Waukegan Arts Council and Waukegan Historical Society.

The festival’s theme is “Ray Bradbury … His Legend and Legacy Lives On!”

Bradbury, Waukegan’s favorite son, passed away on June 5, 2012. He was all about creativity in the arts, and in celebration of his continuing influence in Waukegan, the 23rd annual Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Festival will feature multiple outdoor and indoor staging areas of performance arts.

Food and refreshments will be available throughout the day for a fee.

Artists and crafters will be displaying their art, conducting demonstrations and selling their art to attendees.

Blue House Books is bringing its new store trailer for people to browse and buy books. There will be a Children’s Storytime area with children’s authors and storytellers reading their favorite books, including published authors Gary Moore, Leslie Bracero and Kansas City storyteller extraordinaire Bill Ferguson.

For dance fans, the ALATS dance troupe and other dance companies will entertain outside and in the Jack Benny Dance Studio downstairs.

Arts Park will provide art projects for attendees.

The festival also will feature music stages. The headliners are local singer-songwriter Zion Ari and acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Jack Tell. The headliners will appear on both the festival’s Outdoor Pavilion Music Stage and the Indoor Acoustic Music Stage in the Schornick Theatre.

For more information about Ray Bradbury’s 23rd annual Dandelion Wine Festival, visit www.waukeganparks.org or call the Waukegan Park District at 847-360-4740.