Itasca Fest

Considering the majority of my big fat Italian family lives in Itasca, it’s shocking that this was my first time here. And let’s be honest, I came for the Bingo.
We started here on Sunday night, the last night of the fest. Bingo is run by the Lyons Club and they do a great job of keeping the natives restless while having some personality. The guy working our row was awesome, was so friendly. Cards are 3 for a dollar and my dreams were crushed when I saw they were the sliders and not the stamp kind of cards. I was really looking forward to having a big purple stamper to dot up my cards. Each round of Bingo could win somewhere between $ 50-​$ 70 but alas, I didn’t have any luck. The final round was a cover-​all game and cards were $ 1 each. The jackpot for that final round was above the $ 200 mark. In order to entertain us before the final round (and possibly because it was the last night of the fest, we were able to get as many free drinks as we wanted before the last game). I spent about $ 13 total on an hour of Bingo, which I don’t consider to be too much of a loss. Did I really just write about Bingo for a full paragraph?
Back to the fest. They have about 8 – 10 vendors for food including local restaurants. Rides are plentiful here, I couldn’t even guess how many. Upwards of a dozen? Games were also not scarce, and they had all the classic games. I ended up winning myself a stuffed monkey. It’s what every 29 year old adult female needs.
I can only compare Itasca fest to Bartlett fest or Naperville’s Rib Fest. I would probably prefer Itasca fest over both because it has WAY more games and rides than Bartlett, and isn’t as crowded as Rib Fest. It’s a new summer tradition.

Another year, another Itasca Fest.
We live minutes from the Itasca border, so getting here is a breeze. And so is parking — though you do have to be willing to walk a block or two. But downtown Itasca is lovely.
I think most people, if they drove through this little village of 8,300 people, would not expect very big happenings. But Itasca Fest is pretty impressive for the size of the town. Free admission, and there’s a huge carnival, a big tent set up with plenty of tables for noshing at and a stage with live entertainment, bingo, a rummage sale, educational events for the kids (including interacting with wild animals) and of course plenty of greasy food to go around.
Last year, there was a super-​cool NASA trailer set up where you could play with various gadgets and learn about life in a spaceship. Honestly, I enjoyed it as much as the kid with us did. Unfortunately, no NASA trailer this year. Still, four stars for a solidly good time nearby and on the cheap.