Carpentersville’s Jamboree Days, a summer festival that was a village staple from the early 1970s to 1998, is making a comeback.
The village is excited to bring back “something that was really a popular gathering for the community and drew people from other places to convene and have a good time in our village,” Village Manager Brad Stewart said.
Jamboree Days was originally a five-day music festival that drew big acts like Chubby Checker, the Marshall Tucker Band and Loverboy. In addition to live music, there was food, a beer garden, a carnival and games.
Planned for Aug. 7-8 at Carpenter Park, 351 Carpenter Blvd., next year’s Jamboree Days also will be centered on music.
“We are in the process of identifying the music lineup,” Stewart said, adding the village is open to a variety of types of music.
News of the festival’s return became known when the Carpentersville Village Board approved a calendar of events for 2026 and amended the village code dealing with special events. By approving the calendar, village-sponsored events don’t have to go through a separate board approval process or waiver request.
The list of special events includes the Independence Day Parade, Fall Fest, Winterville, and the Riverside Lights Parade and tree lighting. An Arbor Day event, Memorial Day Ceremony, three movies and three concerts in the park co-sponsored with the Dundee Township Park District, National Night Out, 911 Patriots Day and a Veterans Day event round out the calendar.
This year, Carpentersville introduced a new Spooky Sprint/Haunted Happenings, which included a 5K fun costume run, trunk or treat, and mini monster dash. The event returns in 2026 on Halloween at Carpenter Park.
Taste the Love is holding the annual Duke’s Blues Fest the weekend of June 26-28.
What won’t be returning is El Grito, a Mexican Independence Day celebration and parade held in mid-September.
“We’re anticipating there will be an El Grito in 2026 that will largely follow the footprint of this year,” but it won’t be a village event, Stewart said. “It’s likely to be organized through one of the people who helped organize it in the past.”
Stewart said the village will provide some level of support for El Grito.
“We as a village took an enormous amount of pride in (El Grito), this past year in particular,” Stewart said. While some other communities canceled celebrations due to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the area, “it was something we felt was important to do this past year,” he said.
Carpentersville decided to back from being an active organizer in El Grito because of the strain it put on staff to hold two festivals on consecutive weekends, Stewart said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.