The 2020 virtual Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival, to be held live and accessible to all via Facebook starting at 10 a.m. on June 13, will be on the following Facebook pages: the Waukegan Park District; the Jack Benny Center for the Arts; and the Waukegan History Museum.

Just a quick reminder that the 2020 virtual Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival will be held live, via Facebook, this coming Saturday, June 13, starting at 10 a.m.

https://www.waukeganparks.org/...adbury-Dandelion.jpg

Waukegan, Illinois is planning a birthday celebration of the 102nd anniversary of Ray Bradbury's birth. (So many events planned for Ray's 100th birthday in 2020 were sadly cancelled due to the COVID pandemic). The first Waukegan event I have noticed is the return of the annual Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival, which is currently scheduled for August 20, 2022. As information about other happenings in Waukegan becomes available, I'll try to post it on this Board:

https://www.waukeganparks.org/dandelion/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Richard,

Only six days left for vendors to submit an application to exhibit at the 2022 Dandelion Wine Festival in Waukegan, Illinois. The application deadline is August 12, 2022 and the event is scheduled for August 20, 2022, from 12 pm to 4 pm, in Bowen Park. The festival is dedicated to showcasing local and regional artists and venues, and championing the arts including ceramics, drawing, glass, fiber arts, graphics, leather, metal, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, water color, weaving, wood, and others. For more information, just click on the link below. The link also includes a map to help visitors find their way around:

https://www.waukeganparks.org/...tist-Application.pdf

On August 20, 2022, two hours after the conclusion of the Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival, the city of Waukegan will again be holding a Ray Bradbury Literary Walk from 6 pm to 8 pm. And participants will be allowed inside the Waukegan Carnegie Library for a presentation. (The Library will be undergoing massive renovations, and likely will not re-open to the public until they are completed.) Here is some additional information about this year's Literary Walk:

"The Waukegan Park District is celebrating Ray Bradbury with the 2022 Ray Bradbury Literary Walk on Saturday, August 20, 2022 from 6pm to 8pm in Downtown Waukegan! Questions? Call the Jack Benny Center for the Arts at (847) 360-4740 or email trohrer@waukeganparks.org.

"The Waukegan Park District is bringing back the popular Ray Bradbury Literary Walk on Saturday, August 20, 2022, from 6:00-8:00pm. The Literary Walk is a free family event and is supported by a 2021 COVID-19 Emergency Relief and Recover Grant through Illinois Humanities.

"The 2022 Ray Bradbury Literary Walk will feature five sites in the downtown Waukegan area that are connected and sometimes featured in some of Ray Bradbury’s most notable works. The Literary Walk is a 'living history' event with actors portraying characters from iconic scenes from Fahrenheit 451, Dandelion Wine, The Martian Chronicles, and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

"Literary Walk participants may start their experience at any of the five literary sites. Participants will receive a map and booklet at the first site they visit.

"Participants are encouraged to walk the streets of Waukegan just as young Ray did. Parking is available throughout the city at municipal parking lots and street parking. Parking on North Park Avenue is limited, and participants are encouraged to park on Washington Street.
• Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie – 1 North Sheridan Road
• Ray Bradbury Park – 41 North Park Avenue
• Waukegan Public Library – 128 North County Street
• Jack Benny Plaza – Southwest corner of Genesee & Clayton Streets
• Academy Square – 204 North Genesee Street

"A special highlight of the 2022 Ray Bradbury Literary Walk will be participants experiencing a scene from Something Wicked This Way Comes while inside the historic Waukegan Carnegie Library. This is the last time the public will be able to go inside of the Waukegan Carnegie Library before construction starts by the Waukegan Park District and the Waukegan Historical Society to transform it into the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie.

Professional storyteller, Megan Wells, returns to Waukegan to bring to life the chilling pages of Dandelion Wine, where Lavinia Nebbs is returning home late at night and worrying that the “Lonely One” is waiting for her in the ravine. Megan Wells’ performance will take place at Ray Bradbury Park, the only designated National Register of Literary Landmark site in Lake County, Illinois through United for Libraries.

"A unique feature of this Literary Walk is a puppet show telling the story of the many influences that Waukegan had on young Ray Bradbury. The scene will be narrated by Carol Alleman, and it will also feature music from the Funology String Quartet.
Ray Bradbury, born in Waukegan on August 22, 1920, is an author and screenwriter in fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mystery. Some of his most famous works include element of his hometown of Waukegan in them. Ray Bradbury passed away on June 5, 2012, and he is honored in numerous ways in Waukegan, Illinois.

"The Waukegan Park District’s 2022 Ray Bradbury Literary Walk is supported by a grant from Illinois Humanities as well as the City of Waukegan, Waukegan Historical Society, 3 Brothers Theatre, and the Waukegan Public Library."

https://www.waukeganil.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=9429

The 23rd annual Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival will be held on Saturday, August 19, 2023 in Waukegan, Illinois. The event will take place from 11 am to 4:51 pm (get it?). The Festival celebrates Ray Bradbury with music and the arts. And it's free! If you are going to be in the area and would like to attend, click on the link below for more information:

https://allevents.in/waukegan/...ival/200024656643823

On Saturday, August 12, 2023 (one week before the Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Festival), the Waukegan Historical Society will be hosting a tour of historical sites in downtown Waukegan, Illinois. The "Than and Now Guided Walking Tour" will begin at 10:00 am, starting from the Waukegan Carnegie Library (now the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie) at 1 Sheridan Road, and will last one hour. For more information, and to register, click on the link below:

https://www.waukeganhistorical.org/upcoming-events

A walk through the entire "Ravine" should be a part of any serious RB visitor's involvements at the Dandelion Wine Festival!!

https://www.yelp.com/biz_photo...IGp3BbsMnI78Ig7pAXLA

I agree, fjp451! All these years after Ray Bradbury's childhood, the Ravine in Waukegan is still a great place to visit!

A re-visit of Waukegan is definitely needed now that the Historic Museum and the Carnegie Library have combined efforts and resources in highlighting Mr. Bradbury's amazing life and literary works.

This link holds some very interesting first edition photos and early childhood reading selections, taken directly from his family collection. RB was so consistent in his approach to keeping important "stuff", especially when it related to his daily life of reading and writing.

https://libguides.waukeganpl.org/Bradbury-Showcase

The 24th annual Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival will be held this year in Bowen Park, in Ray's hometown of Waukegan, Illinois, on Saturday, August 17, 2024. It will run from 11 AM to 4:51 PM (any resemblance between the end time and any of Ray's literary output is strictly a coincidence! ) The festival celebrates Ray Bradbury by using art and music as its basis. For more information, just click on the link below:

https://www.waukeganparks.org/...arts-music-festival/

Just a quick reminder that the 24th annual Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival will be held in Waukegan, Illinois this coming Saturday, August 17. And it's free! For more information about the Festival, click on the link in the posting directly above.

And speaking of Waukegan, the link below will take you to a short video of a wonderful mural in Ray's hometown, depicting a child in a space suit and a young woman leaning against a stack of books and reading...what else?...THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUVWLk5Y9zc

Better late than never: click on the link below for a few scenes from this year's Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival in Waukegan, Illinois, held last August:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTDAEL5hh1w

And in keeping with the topic of the Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Arts and Music Festival, click on the link below for an image of the cover which appeared on a paperback version of Ray's classic novel, drawn by the fine artist Tom Canty. This artwork was later issued as a limited edition print, signed by Mr. Canty:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Imagi...omas_canty/#lightbox