Aykroyd, Belushi coming back to Joliet in August for Blues Brothers Con

Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi will return to Joliet on Aug. 17 for the second Blues Brothers Con at the Old Joliet Prison.

The Joliet Area Historical Museum, which manages the prison site, announced the new date for the daylong blues music festival for what it calls a rescheduled event. Blues Brothers Con was postponed last year because of a strike at the time by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Tickets bought for the event last year will be honored, museum Chief Executive Officer Greg Peerbolte police said..

“JAHM is proud to have stood in solidarity with the SAG/AFTRA strikes and is elated to have rescheduled this unforgettable event,” Peerbolte said in a news release announcing the new date. “We thank the fans for their patience and promise to deliver an even bigger and better Blues Brothers Con this summer.”

Aykroyd and Belushi will perform with the Blues Brothers band, the headline act for the event.

Their appearance recognizes the use of the prison, formerly the Joliet Correctional Center, in the opening scene of “The Blues Brothers” movie that was released in 1980. The film starred Aykroyd and Belushi’s brother, the late John Belushi.

Aykroyd said at the first Blues Brothers Con in 2022 that during road trips he sometimes travels to Joliet and stops at the prison to reflect on the filming of the “The Blues Brothers” and the enthusiastic response he and Belushi got from inmates at the time.

JAHM in partnership with the city of Joliet, which leases the prison from the state, has opened the former Joliet Correctional Center, for tours and events. The state closed the prison in 2002.

The museum has received $10 million in state and federal grants to rehabilitate the 16-acre prison site, which has led to increased access to buildings since the last Blues Brothers Con, JAHM said in the release.

Tickets for Blues Brothers Con are available on the prison website, jolietprison.org.

The prison is at 1125 N. Collins St. in Joliet. Prison gates will open for the event at 11 a.m.

General admission costs $55 for adults and $25 for children (18 and younger). Tickets are $75 for standing-room only space in the front section. Front section table tickets cost $500 for four guests.

Parking will be free at remote lots.