Summer of 2016 brings record high temperatures to Quad cities along with annual events. Music, art, fair, carnivals, festivals, and so on make QC the greatest place to spend the summer again! Here are my top picks for summer 2016.
Rock Island County Fair – July 19 to 23: Enjoy the unlimited rides and don’t miss the fair food and the demolition derby on Friday and Little Monster trucks on Saturday! See the farm animals and feed them.
MVValley Fair – Aug 2 to 7: Take the fun stands pass to enjoy the entry for five days including the grand stands! Rascal Flatts and Alabama are in the line up this year
Tug Fest – Aug 11 to 13: Don’t miss the fireworks on Friday and the great tug on Saturday. Cheer for your local teams and enjoy the action! Signup your kids for the kids tug to make it more interesting
River Roots Live – Aug 26 to 27: If you like loud music and street food, this is the place for you. Bring a lawn chair and enjoy the music! Visit the many stages and enjoy all kinds of music
Quad city balloon festival – Sep 23 to 27: Enjoy the hot air balloon ride over the QC and fly in the colorful balloons. Donate a canned or packed food item for free entry
Do visit the Putnam museum and Figge art museum during to check out their special exhibits. Say hello to the mummy in the museum and create art at the Figge art museum. Ride the channel cat water taxi to cross the river. Ride the river cruises and dinner cruises on the famous Celebration Belle. Go to the movie in the park or the movie marathon in the theaters early shows.
If you want to venture out new adventures in the Quad cities, try out the Scuba Adventures and get certified in the live water swimming. Don’t miss the Slide the city on August 6th which is sure a fun to do and watch as well. A must visit is the Bust out live escape rooms in Bettendorf which is a perfect team building activity for family, friends, or office. the Quad city sky diving is open for season and test your luck out there as well. 🙂
Participate in the marathons, races, triatholons, RAGBRAI, and so on in 2016. Or just enjoy the river walk. Let me know what you did this summer in the Quad cities! 🙂
Summer events are plenty in Quad Cities which let us enjoy the best outdoors. With the mighty Mississippi by our side, we get to explore the nature and create beautiful memories. With thousands of people attending, these events make living in the Quad Cities interesting.
Summer Events in Quad Cities
Here are some quad cities events which are my favorites:
Rock Island County Fair: The 146th annual Rock Island County Fair is from July 11th to July 19th at 4200, Archer Drive
in East Moline. Most of the grandstand acts are from July 15th to July 18th that is, Thursday through Saturday. Admission fee is $2 for adults, unlimited wristband for $20 which covers all the rides. If you want to get tipsy you can either get on the rides or the beer tent nearby. The fair food is mouth watering such as the curly fries, funnel cakes, french fries, hot dogs, nachos cheese, cotton candy, and of course the Lemonades!!
The grandstand acts include popular artists such as Charlie Worsham on Saturday and Clayton Anderson and Keith Anderson on Friday. This year the Demolition Derby is on Thursday 7pm unlike last year when they had it scheduled for Saturday evening. Get your spirits high for the racing and dashing. Further, check their schedule for more information and do not forget there is free pizza by Dominoes on Wednesday and Thursday from 10.30 am to 1pm.
Mississippi Valley Fair: The 96th annual Mississippi Valley Fair is from August 4th to August 9th at 2815, West Locust St in Davenport. The fair is one of the largest fair in Iowa which costs $10 for the general admission and $45 for fun cards. The fun card lets you in for all the five days including the grand stand acts. Kids 12 and under have free admission on Wednesday Aug 5th. This year the grand stand line up includes Kip Moore, Reba, The Marshall Tucker Band, Styx, The Band Perry, and Big & Rich.
You can visit the Mississippi Valley Fair for the fair food especially the corn and baked potatoes. The rides are $20 from 11 am to 5pm and they have a zip line too. There is also the beer tent and free music. There are some free acts throughout the day which include the alligator show, Dallas the Fire Guy, and Team Rock Karate Show among others.
Tug Fest: The 29th annual Tug Fest is from August 13th to August 15th in Port Byron, Illinois or Le Claire, Iowa. Illinois has the most wins 17 over Iowa. You can choose the side depending on which side of the river you are. Thursday night is the family night and is free admission to all. Friday and Saturday admission is $3 per person. Don’t miss Friday night Rumble on the River fireworks over the river at 9pm. The kids tug is at 11 am on Saturday. The actual tug is from 12 to 3pm at the tug site.
Tug fest is a tug of war competition over the Mississippi river between two states Iowa and Illinois. The 2400 feet rope is pulled by tug teams across the river and the state with most points win. Local businesses form teams to compete in the tug. Tug fest is possible with the help of local sponsors and hard working volunteers. Also, the bands are amazing at the Gazebo. I like the music, fireworks,the river, and of course the actual tug. Combine your tug fest visit with the annual Floatzilla on August 15th to make it even more fun.
River Roots Live: The 11th annual River Roots Live is on August 28th and August 29th at 400 W Biederbecke Dr, Davenport in the LeClaire Park. I like their new website though developed by Nerdwerx! The admission is free before 3pm on both days. Gate admission is $15. River Roots Liveis clubbed with the rib fest. The ribs are open at 11 am on both days. Music starts at 5pm on Friday and runs all day on Saturday.
This year’s line up includes artists such as Kacey Musgraves at Saturday 8.45 pm and Hello Goodbye at Friday 10.15 pm. Visit the River Roots Live for lots of ear popping and heart throbbing music. The Junior Jam for children is sponsored by West Music and RME. There are bouncy house for kids and also a video game tent sponsored by Video Game Etc. Check out all the free stuff given away by local businesses apart from the fair food.
You can also hop on the channel cat taxi and Celebration Belle cruises or checkout the Backwater Gamblers in Rock Island. Attend these events and let me know which one you like the most and share if you find any more interesting.:)
Quad city residents look forward for the annual Mississippi Valley Fair, Tug fest, River roots, Tax free weekend in August. Make the most of the rest of the summer with the events and sun. 🙂
The MV Valley fair offers a free admission to kids today apart from other grand stand shows. – The fair ends this Sunday and costs $10 for adults and $3 for children.
Illinois hopes to win the Tug fest this year too. – Get your lawn chairs to Port Byron or Le Claire from Aug 11 to 13th to enjoy the cool river side and hot sun. The event has minimum admission fee that is donated to wards charity.
River roots live is set to rock downtown Davenport with great food and music. – The free event on August 19th and 20th is full of free music and interesting food that comes yearly once. 🙂
Tax free weekends in Iowa this Friday and Saturday allows you to buy garments or shoes sales tax free for up to $100. – Illinois residents may visit Iowa stores and avail the facility as Mr. Quinn does not declare any tax free holidays for Illinois. 🙂
Movies in the park start this Friday in Moline showing Tangled this week and Tron legacy next Friday. – Again, get your lawn chairs, blankets, and bug repellents to enjoy the free movie with pop corn.
These events provide opportunity to enjoy the little outdoor fun opportunities we have before the onset of the cold weather. 🙂
For Quad city residents, August is packed with full of local events which are not to be missed. The Mississippi Valley Fair, River Roots Live Music Festival, Tug Fest are the major annual events apart from the movie in the park. These events make summer a little more exciting and worth celebrating!
Mississippi Valley Fair, 2010
The 91st annual Mississippi Valley Fair is being held at Davenport, Iowa from August 3rd to August 8th. If you have visited the Rock Island County Fair in July, you can expect this fair to be much bigger and with more events.
The Mississippi Valley Fair has a line up of celebrity artists from across the country performing live daily. Apart from the grand stand events, the fair is packed with shows from across the country. The animal show, carnival rides, fire guy show, diamonds show, Stiltwalker Todd Lageisse show, sculptors are some of the amazing shows in the fair.
The fair is held at 2815 West Locust street Davenport, Iowa 52804. They can be reached on (563) 326-5338. The entry fee is $10 per head and $40 for all days with admission to the grand stand.
Tug Fest, 2010
The 24th annual Tug Fest is held across the Mississippi river between Le Claire, Iowa and Port Byron, Illinois. The tug-of-war across the river is held annually along with the Bike show and fire works. The show and events can be seen both the cities and are a ton of fun. Don’t forget to bring your lawn chairs and water bottles.
The festival is held on August 12th to 14th and the entry is free. 🙂 Do not miss the annual show with lots of events for children as well as adults. The tug fest for children and the Prince/Princess contests are held for children. For adults, the parade contests, bike contests, Running, Golf tournament are the planned events. The fireworks on Friday, August 13th are a feast and a must see!
River Roots Live Music Festival, 2010
The sixth annual River Roots Live Music Festival has artists from across the country performing for entertaining the visitors. The festival is a feast for all music lovers with a line-up of popular artists and fun.
The festival will be held in Davenport Downtown on August 20th and August 21st. The timings are from 11am till midnight. Entry is free 🙂 and the shows are held in multiple stages. The music festival is packed with rib fest for you to enjoy mouth-watering ribs. Bring your lawn chairs and water bottles.
Movie in the Park, Moline
Every Friday night in August, Moline Parks department shows a free movie in the park at Riverside Park. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets and water bottles to enjoy the cool summer and a free movie. Concessions are available at the park at an extra charge.
So, finally there are many events in August before school starts and fall begins. Enjoy to your maximum potential and let me know how it went. 🙂
Summer weekend can be utilized to maximum potential by exploring surrounding cities of Quad cities. If you have no appointments or parties you can get away to nearby cities and enjoy the road trips. Here is what I observed when I visited Le CLaire last weekend.
Le Claire is a small town by the Mississippi river which has abundant greenery. Mississippi river is the largest river flowing across the US. The people living around the river are lucky to enjoy the beauty of the river. The river takes a sharp turn at Le Claire to the west at the head of the rapids making the town an important place for river commerce.
Yesterday owing to the weather it was sultry, warm with cold breezes. If you are visiting Le Claire in the business hours, you can visit the museum and the shops there. My Sister’s Coffee shop offers variety of coffee flavors. If you visit Le Claire after business hours, you can just enjoy the riverside beauty and come back.
The walk along the river side and the boating decks are good time pass. It is fun to watch the birds and listen to the flowing water. Being summer you can see many boats racing in the river. I think a boat is a must for people living around the Mississippi river! 🙂
The Tug Fest and Cruises are some of the popular events of the town. The Riverboat Twilight offers a two-day cruise from Le Claire to Dubuque and back. The serenity by the river and the greenery make a Le Claire worth visiting at least a year, in fall as well as in summer.
