The Exchange Club of Naperville recently announced that Romeoville will host Ribfest 2020 and beyond.
The site chosen is adjacent to the Romeoville Village Hall near the intersection of Romeo Road and Weber Road.
“Romeoville offers us a nice large spot, which allows us to continue current operations as we have them,” said Bob Black, the chair of Ribfest 2020. “We are a large fundraiser and to continue that fundraising operation as it exists, to be able to continue to fund the various agencies that we do, we need that same type of footprint.”
Moving On From Knoch
For more than 30 years, Naperville’s Knoch Park has been home to Ribfest. But, due to redevelopment planned for the park in 2020, another site needed to be chosen.
“Obviously it’s tough to move after 30 plus years,” said Black. “And we’ve had a great partnership with Naperville and the park district for many years. That part is difficult, it’s always going to be difficult.”
Advantages of Romeoville Site
Black said no other sites in Naperville offered the space needed to host the event. Other communities were also considered, but Romeoville gave them the space as well as other advantages with their site.
“You’ve got I-55 nearby, you’ve got some interchanges nearby. We think that transportation-wise, we can hopefully reach a few more people,” said Black.
The site also contains an already-built pavilion that exchange club officials said could possibly be used as the event’s secondary stage.
Same Organizations Will Benefit
Black also stressed the organizations that benefit from Ribfest will not be affected by the change in location.
“We are going to continue to fund all the agencies that we have been funding over the years, which are many agencies that are in Naperville, many agencies in the surrounding communities around Naperville and there are already agencies that are down in the Will County, Romeoville area,” said Black.
2019’s Ribfest will still be held in Knoch Park, prompting the hashtag from the exchange club #LastNightsAtKnoch.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
