Cherry Valley Festival Days

Great food, the carnival, on-site activities, and of course, the bands are what make a summer music festival an event to remember. Valley Days has proven to be the fun-filled summer music festival your family shouldn’t miss.

The Nickel Scramble, sponsored by the Cherry Valley Firefighters Association, will be held at 7:00 pm for ages 1-12. Kids hunt for nickels in the straw. No signup and tickets are needed, but please bring a container for your nickels.

Come see the Scottish Highland Games! These are traditional Celtic games consisting of distance events, height events, Sheaf Toss and Caber Toss. This is an athletic competition pitting the athletes' strength and skills against fellow athletes. For more information please visit their website.

There is a golden skeleton key hidden somewhere in the Village. Clues as to where it might be hidden are posted periodically at events. The first post will be at the Nickel Scramble on Friday evening or at the DARE Tent after the event. The Golden Skeleton Key hunt continues all weekend. The prize is $50 cash, and there is no age limit or entry requirement. If the key is found within the first 3 clues, another key hunt will be started!

Want to bring out the creativity in your children? The Home Depot of Rockford Kids Workshop lets your child build their own wooden project. Supplies are provided, but the number of kits is limited. All that is required is a big thanks to the Home Depot of Rockford. See schedule for details.

New this year to the Festival, is the Minute To Win It Games. Following the NBC TV Game Show, Minute to Win It is the game in which you perform several tasks with simple items found around the house in under a minute to win prizes! This will be held on Saturday at 5 PM, Ages 10+.

The Cherry Pie Eating contest is sponsored by Illinois Machine Shed and will challenge participants to eat a ¼ of a pie with their hands behind their back.Sign up begins at 6pm on Friday in the shade tent and the even is held on Sunday at 3:30pm on the Main Stage! Check out age groups in the Cherry Valley Days booklet. Prizes WILL BE awarded.

The Forest City Dog Training Club will put dogs through their paces showing different levels of obedience training. Special tricks, a rally, and an agility program are planned. Come see the dogs on Saturday from 1:45 pm to 2:30 pm

And lets not forget the Muddy Money Mud Pit for ages 10 and up. This event features cash prizes totalling $500. Dig for money and many other prizes in the mud. Registration is limited. SO BE EARLY! Sign up will begin Friday at 6 pm inside the festival grounds at the shade tent. More details in the CV Booklet and schedule page.

Come and join in the fun at Cherry Valley Bags Tournament. Register your team from Noon til 2pm on Saturday for $20. Competition starts on Saturday at 2:30pm and cash prizes will be awarded!

Coming back for a second year is the Colt Case Ingersoll Lawn & Garden Tractor Show! This event runs on Saturday from 9am to 4pm and includes some rare tractors built by Ingersoll.

And what would a summer festival be without music? Visit our bands page to see all the great bands coming to this year's festival! The bands this year will provide for a great time and energetic atmosphere.

Join us for the 2011 Cherry Valley Festival Days