33rd Annual Rhubarb Festival

The Kankakee County Museum will be hosting their 33rd Annual Rhubarb Festival on Sunday, May 21st. This FUNdraising event starts at 10 a.m. and goes to 4 p.m. 2023 festivities include: a wide variety of vendors, a dime toss, kid’s zone, classic and old car display, pie-eating contest, live entertainment, and tours of the Taylor One-Room Schoolhouse and historic Dr. Small home. Debuting at the Rhubarb Festival will be a new exhibit celebrating the 75th anniversary of our museum home at Governor Small Memorial Park as well as the annual Kankakee Art League Show, local hero display, and a vintage purse display (on loan from the Vintage Purse Museum). Rhubarb and strawberry-rhubarb whole pies and slices (provided by the Bennett-Curtis House) will be available for purchase as part of the museum’s fundraising efforts. Whole pies can also be pre-ordered online through Kankakee County Museum’s website now through May 14th. The museum is still accepting classic car display participants and contestants for the pie eating contest. Early registration is recommended for both. Sign up online or give us a call! https://www.kankakeecountymuseum.com 815-932-5279 Scheduled Events/Entertainment Lineup Let Freedom Ring Garden in the Circle Drive: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. – Classic & Old Car Display 10:30 a.m. - Remembrance Table Ceremony presented by Rolling Thunder Illinois Chapter 1 (This ceremony is dedicated to POW/MIA military Veterans and is an introduction to this year’s local hero display addition to the War Exhibit) Civic Auditorium Patio: 11:00 a.m. – Pie eating Contest starts (registration closes at 10:45 a.m.) 12:00-1:00 p.m. – Shelby Ryan 1:00-2:30 p.m. – Vince Amore 2:30-3:30 p.m. - Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra *Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs for comfort. NEW THIS YEAR - Oasis Medical Services will be providing a shuttle service to help with parking. Oasis will have two vehicles available (one with handicap accessibility) from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on this day. To take advantage of this service, patrons should park at or near Taft Elementary School (1155 W Hawkins St. Kankakee IL). Why do we celebrate rhubarb? Before becoming Governor, Lennington Small grew up in what is now referred to as the Dr. Small Memorial Home. Dr. Abram Small, the former Illinois Governor’s father, believed the plant held medicinal uses. From the early to mid-1900s much of the home’s surrounding land was covered with the plant. This event is generously sponsored by Riverside Healthcare, Xfinity, State Representative, Jackie Haas, and CSL Behring.