The Last Fling will return this year after a one year hiatus due to COVID-19.
As is tradition the Fling will take place during Labor Day Weekend, September 3-6, and will take over Jackson Avenue in Downtown Naperville. The event will be scaled-down and a press release from the Naperville Jaycees calls it a “end-of-summer block party-style community event.”
“The Naperville Jaycees is proud of the many years of community contributions it has facilitated via the Last Fling, and excited to put together another fantastic festival in 2021,” said Cori Cozort, President of the Naperville Jaycees.
Changes to the Fling
The Last Fling organizers are monitoring state guidance for large events and have multiple plans ready to comply with health and safety protocols. That said, there are already some changes that Fling-goers will notice.
“I think the biggest difference than previous years is we are no longer going to be on Rotary Hill,” said Beth DeGeeter, co-director of the 2021 Last Fling. “We are a Jackson Avenue-only event. We like to say we’re getting back to our roots, getting back to how the Fling started.”
In 2019, the event charged admission for the first time in its history. Because the event will be smaller in scope this year, that won’t be the case in 2021.
“We are just excited to create an event for the community to get together,” said DeGeeter. “We were just talking about how 2020 was just a year where a lot of things were canceled, a lot of stuff happened for a lot of people and we want to create this space where we can have fun and just relax and try to move things forward.”
Fundraiser
The Last Fling is the Jaycees’ largest fundraiser and has raised more than two million dollars for local nonprofits in the past 20 years.
There will be live music, food, beverages, and carnival rides and games. Sponsorship opportunities and performance slots are still available.
Last Year’s Cancelation
Last year’s Fling was canceled in June due to mitigations on large-scale events per the Restore Illinois Plan. It was one of many annual events canceled last year due to COVID, but with plans to return in 2021. That includes The Exchange Club of Naperville’s Ribfest, Naperville Municipal Band concerts, and the inaugural Naper Pride Fest and Naperville Salute.
Other Fest Cancelations
Other local events like Lisle’s Eyes to the Skies, West Suburban Irish’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and the DuPage County Fair will go two consecutive years without happening.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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