Sheffield Garden Walk & Festival

Celebrating 41 years of beautiful gardens, rocking music and delicious food, the Sheffield Garden Walk & Festival opens its gates July 18-19 in Sheffield’s Garden District of Chicago. The annual event is unique among Chicago’s growing number of weekend summer gatherings because it is truly a “neighborhood” festival—organized by the Sheffield Neighborhood Association, a non-profit community organization, and staffed with more than 450 volunteers. Over 35,000 people have attended the Garden Walk in recent years. Event managers expect this year’s attendance to be among the highest ever due to an extremely strong line-up of bands, more than 90 resident gardens for public viewing and the popular children’s activities. In addition, both novice and experienced gardeners can take advantage of the Garden Center, where advice from Master Gardeners on topics such as plant material, design style and challenges peculiar to urban gardens, and guided garden and architectural tours are available. Appearing for the first time at the Garden Walk, Rusted Root, a roots-rock band from Pittsburgh that enjoys a national following will close out Saturday’s strong entertainment schedule. Fans may know their song, “Send Me on my Way” that was featured in the movie “Ice Age”. Cowboy Mouth, a New Orleans rock n’roll band and Garden Walk favorite will return as a Saturday co-headliner, hitting the stage at 6pm. Back from their 2007 Garden Walk electric performance will be local favorite Poi Dog Pondering to headline Sunday night. Funkadesi, a local renowned world music group, will open for Poi Dog at 6pm on Sunday while teen favorite and family friendly School of Rock will kickoff Sunday’s musical line-up at 12:15pm. Festival highlights include: A line-up of live entertainment from local and national artists. This year’s Main Stage features: Saturday, July 18th 8:00 pm Rusted Root 6:00 pm Cowboy Mouth 3:30 pm Kinetix 2:00 pm 56 Hope Road 12:30 pm Boho Paisley Sunday, July 19th 8:00 pm Poi Dog Pondering 6:00 pm Funkadesi 3:30 pm Hello Dave 2:00 pm Weber Band 12:15 pm School of Rock Guided architectural tours that take visitors throughout the Sheffield neighborhood, one of the first communities in Illinois to be recognized in the National Register of Historic Districts by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Tour groups will view the various architectural styles of Italianate, Romanesque and Queen Anne prominent on neighborhood buildings, some dating back to 1875. The free, hour-long tour departs from the Garden Walk Information Booth on the lawn of St. Vincent de Paul Church, Saturday at 2:00 p.m., Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Kids’ Corner that offers a variety of free family entertainment and features hands-on activities including creating puppets, designing beaded jewelry and decorating picture frames. Other activities include a moonwalk, pig train, kiddie Ferris wheel, petting zoo and pony rides. Kids also have the chance to participate in face painting and musical games. Kids’ Corner also boasts its own live entertainment, including storytelling, sing-along, children’s yoga, magic acts, musicians and dancing. Kids’ Corner is located on Kenmore between Belden and Webster, and is open from noon to 5:00 p.m. both days. Admission to Kids’ Corner is free. Little Sisters of the Poor, Barry Winograd's Big Band Alternatives will play on the grounds of the Little Sisters of the Poor St. Mary’s Center, on Belden between Lakewood and Racine, Saturday 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Enjoy free big band music outdoors and the hospitality of the St. Mary’s residents and staff. Gardening Contest, see the winners of the second annual gardening contest held in conjunction with the Garden Walk. Entrants will be judged based on originality, creativity and overall maintenance as well as the use of color, texture and variety and combination of plants and flowers used. A panel of three gardening experts will choose the top three gardens in Landscape and Container categories. Festival goers will also have the chance to sample food from some of the neighborhood’s top restaurants, including Connie’s Pizza, Quang Noodle Restaurant, Robinson’s Ribs, McGee’s Tavern, Local Option and St. Vincent de Paul. GETTING THERE The Sheffield Garden Walk & Festival is at Webster Street and Sheffield Avenue (2200 N, 1000 W), one block south of the Fullerton El stop on the Red and Brown lines. Parking is available for $6.00 for 12 hours at the DePaul University Clifton St. garage, just south of Fullerton Avenue. In addition, bicycle racks are available on the DePaul campus. Suggested donation is $6.00 for entry into the Festival; $10.00 after 3:00 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Sheffield Neighborhood Association, a non-profit community organization that provides continued support for neighborhood schools, local institutions and community projects. In addition, proceeds are allocated to the Association’s Beautification Program, a 7-10 year plan to maintain Sheffield as the Garden District of Chicago. For more information on the 2009 Sheffield Garden Walk & Festival visit www.sheffieldgardenwalk.com or call 773.929.9255.

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