The Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce kicked off their annual Hometown Festival in Downtown Crown Point on Friday, June 12th, much to the enjoyment and excitement from everyone, young and old, who came out to take part in the festivities. The annual Hometown Festival spans two weekends with the Corn Fest taking place on June 12th and 13th, and the Food and Arts Festival going on Friday, June 19th and Saturday, June 20th.
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“We’ve been holding the Corn Fest for close to 40 years,” said Sue Reed, President and CEO of the Crossroads Chamber. “Over that time it’s really evolved into what it is today. We’re expecting upwards of around 10,000 people to attend this years Festival and it’s great to see that the weather hasn’t slowed us down a bit. We’ve got lots of good food and entertainment for the whole family. People are ready to come out and support the Chamber and that’s so great to see.”
Echoing those sentiments and excited for the weekends ahead was Co-Chair of the Hometown Festival Jean Lahm from Geisen Funeral Home in Crown Point.
“We’ve got roughly 22 food vendors this year who are serving up some amazing stuff,” Lahm said. “We also have a little over a dozen sponsors who have helped us put together a great Kids Zone where kids can play games or enjoy the bouncy castle and slides. On our Main Street Stage tonight we have Nawty playing great music from 7:30-10:30 and Saturday night Pawnz will be entertaining festival goers.”
Serving up delicious food at this years Corn Fest was Blue Chip Casino’s new King of the Road food truck. The King of the Road is a recent addition for the Blue Chip and will be making stops throughout the Region all summer long.
“This is something new we’re starting this year,” said Max Gulab, Sous Chef at the Blue Chip. “We’ve actually been open for about four weeks and we’ll be highlighting everything we serve at the casino. It’s a taste of the Blue Chip. We’re going to have a rotating menu and will be serving different food items depending on the event. The King of the Road will feature everything from foot-long Chicago Dogs to Chicken and Waffles to Italian Beef.”
You can catch Blue Chip’s new food truck at Chesterton’s European Market nearly every weekend as well as the Gary Air Show, the South Shore Air Show, and Pierogi Fest in Whiting just to name a few of the stops it will be making.
“Sausage King” Don Campbell was also serving up his famous Polish Sausage at the Hometown Festival.
“This is the 18th year I’ve done the Corn Fest,” Campbell said. “I make all my sausage fresh and I love coming out every year. I normally do around five to six festivals every year from Schererville to Plymouth.”
This weekends Corn Fest runs until 11:00pm with events such as karaoke, a princess parade, corn-on-the-cob eating contest and a cornhole Tournament going on throughout the day on Saturday.
To find out more about these events and to check out the Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce and their other upcoming events visit www.crossroadschamber.org.