5 things to do in McHenry County: Listen to stories and stroll through farms

1. Story time in Spring Grove: The Spring Grove Storytelling festival returns Saturday at Spring Grove Park. This year’s speakers include NASA story consultant Beth Horner and Moth Radio star Nestor Gomez, and Peter Cook will tell stories in American Sign Language.

The festival will be packed with tales from noon to 10 p.m., with ghost stories starting at 8 p.m. The event will also have a children’s tent, an open mic area and food trucks. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for ages 6-16. Kids under 5 are free. For more information and to purchase tickets visit springgrovestorytelling.org.

2. Stroll through family farms: Explore over 10 farms across McHenry County at the McHenry County Farm Stroll from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The free and self-guided tour allows anyone to visit farms in the county including those in Harvard, Woodstock, Marengo, Hebron and Richmond.

Farms will also have goods for sale including produce, flowers and other items. See farming done by students at the McHenry County College Student Farm and visit horses at Soulful Prairies. Stop by Magic Meadows Alpacas in Wonder Lake as an unofficial stop to visit alpacas and shop alpaca products.

For more information and a full list of participating farms visit mchenrycfb.org/mchenry-county-farm-stroll-0.

3. Outdoor movie night: The McHenry Outdoor Theater is hosting a fundraiser with the McHenry Area Rotary Saturday with a concert by a Queen cover band followed by a double showing of “Wayne’s World” and “Wayne’s World 2.”

Doors open at 5 p.m. and Queen Explosion will perform at 5:30 p.m. Come dressed as Freddie Mercury, Wayne or Garth for a chance to win best look-a-like for a $100 gift card. The Rotary will also be hosting a 50-50 raffle. A portion of concession sales will go to the Rotary to support local nonprofits. Regular adult tickets for the show are $14 per person. For more information visit goldenagecinemas.com.

4. Run for the hills: Support Moraine Hills State Park by participating in the Run for the Hills 5K, 10K and half marathon Saturday at Moraine Hills in McHenry. Walk or run through the state park’s woodlands, prairies and marshes. Medals will be given to the top three runners in each age group. Races start at 7:30 a.m.

Tickets are $55 for the half marathon, $45 for the 10K and $35 for the 5K. Proceeds go to support nonprofit Friends of Moraine Hills State Park. For more information and to purchase tickets visit friendsofmorainehillsstatepark.org.

5. Fly a kite: The Huntley Kite Fest will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the soccer fields in Warrington Park. This free event will have professional kite flyers perform choreographed music routines while Al Sparling’s Gigantic Kites will be on display.

Bring your own kite to fly with neighbors and the community in the open kite flying area. There will also be a candy drop and food vendors on site. For more details call 847-515-5262.

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