The Festival of the Lakes began July 13, and the Region’s residents came out in droves for a week of fun at Wolf Lake Memorial Park in Hammond.
People from all over Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area made their way out to enjoy fair festivities, foods, rides, and musical performances on July 14. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. welcomed opening act, Twista, and headliners, Nelly and Busta Rhymes.
“The whole thing's beautiful,” Norman Jackson of Gary said. “I'm glad everybody got along. The show was good. The vibes were good.”
The crowd surged with positive energy and excitement at being able to gather. Participants were ready to show support for the City of Hammond.
“We're back open, and that’s huge,” said Business Risk Advisor at General Insurance Services Nicole Van Duyn. “It's a really great way to funnel money into the community and into our vendors that haven't been able to do their jobs and do what they love during the pandemic. We're here with some really great artists that are really putting everybody in just such a great mindset.”
The night began with some rain droplets, but the drizzling quickly cleared up for the acts. Fans were ready to dance and rap along with the night’s entertainment.
“We’re super psyched, and we have some great artists all week,” said McDermott.
People around the Region have festivities all week long to look forward to, including golf outings, $5 all-you-can-eat gospel breakfast, fishing derby, fireworks, and many more musical artists every night until July 18.
McDermott encourages everyone to come enjoy a night of the festivities. It doesn't matter who someone is, there's a reason to come out to the Festival of the Lakes this year. Aside from carnival rides, games, and food, the concerts features include rap, pop, oldies, rock, and more.
“We put the best together with our population in mind. Hammond is super diverse with a lot of different demographics,” said McDermott. “We’re trying to hit everybody in our city so that everybody's happy. Most of our residents come out two or three nights quite frankly. Almost everybody has a night that they can enjoy, which is what we intended.”
Don’t miss the great entertainers coming up this weekend at Festival of the Lakes! Upcoming headlining acts include Limp Bizkit, Reo Speedwagon, Sammy Hagar and the Circle, and Los Tucanes de Tijuana.
Check out https://www.festivalofthelakes.com/event-schedule/ for more information.
