Downtown Barrington was absolutely packed for this weekend’s 1865 Street Fest celebrating the 150 year anniversary of the community’s incorporation as a village. (Click here for our video coverage.) The weather was perfect and the Village made a great call moving the fest to Sunday due to the forecast for Saturday’s rain.
For anyone who lives or works in Barrington, the 1865 Street Fest was filled with a sea of familiar faces including local leaders, business owners and neighbors dressed up to show their hometown pride, whether with period costumes…
Or their local colors…
Street performers like Abe Lincoln and Civil War re-enactors plus a penny farthing cyclist were some of many touches that helped bring Barrington back to the spirit of bygone years.
Sixth grade Barrington Middle School students played the part of newsies passing out the festival program and map. There was a pocket lady, juggler, barbershop quartet and stilt walker milling about.
All street performers popped up for photos throughout the fest with the John B. Sanfilippo & Son Fisher Nut calliope truck and Wells Fargo stagecoach offering two of many picture-perfect vintage backdrops.
And you couldn’t miss hints of 1865 found at the fest’s vendor booths, on loan from Barrington’s ChristKindlFest committee.
The Barrington Junior Women’s Club covered the kids’ activities with a Children’s Vintage Carnival featuring pony rides, face painting and butter churning.
Old time games like Knock the Can, Hot Potato, Hoop Roll and Ring Toss were big hits.
And, of course, there were plenty of treats to keep sweet faces smiling.
The 1865 Street Fest was one of several events celebrating Barrington’s Sesquicentennial on Sunday. Before the fest, two vintage baseball teams, the Chicago Salmon and the Somonauk Blue Stockings, played ball at Citizens Park.
And the Barrington Area Library hosted a special “Share Barrington” event featuring an exhibit of privately collected art, books, memorabilia and photos highlighting Barrington’s history.
Special thanks to all of the sponsors who made Barrington’s 1865 Street Festival such a great success! Premier sponsors include the following:
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital * Charles Schwab * Wickstrom Auto Group * BMO Harris Bank * Barrington Area Community Foundation * Barrington Bank & Trust * Refined Construction Services * Town and Country Painting of Barrington
And, of course, we are also feeling very thankful for Barrington’s own photographer, Bob Lee, who was looking very dapper while draped with his cameras and dressed up in his best vintage duds for the festivities. His photos of Barrington’s 1865 Street Fest (shared here) will surely go down in history!
If you missed this weekend’s Barrington Sesquicentennial celebrations, stay tuned! We have even more photos to share with our video post that we’ll be publishing this week at 365Barrington.com.
And there are plenty more opportunities to celebrate Barrington’s 150th anniversary throughout the rest of this year with exciting events scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend, the 4th of July and through the end of 2015. To keep up on the latest Sesquicentennial Celebration events, visit Barrington150.org.
