ELDRIDGE, Iowa — The City of Eldridge is celebrating a big milestone this weekend. The town is celebrating 150 years with its annual summer festival.
The sesquicentennial celebration runs Friday night, July 9, and all day Saturday, July 10.
There is live music and entertainment planned at Sheridan Meadows Park from 6 p.m. until midnight on Friday.
Then, there are activities and entertainment planned all day in downtown Eldridge, including a parade in the morning, a tractor show and the "moonlight chase" to end the celebration Saturday night.
Organizers said they wanted to combine both the sesquicentennial celebration and summer festival into one big event this year instead of planning two separate events.
Organizers expect between 2,000 and 4,000 people to come to town to participate in the celebration.
Organizer Lisa Kotter said this year's celebration is even more important for the community after last year's event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's exciting, all the way back to our original founder, Jacob Eldridge, who came here from the New Jersey area with his family, and we are here really celebrating all the great things our community has to offer, starting way back 150 years ago all the way to 2021," said Kotter.
The city is also planning to bury a time capsule at Wiese Park in downtown Eldridge.
Organizers plan to include items like masks and explanations about COVID-19 and experiences from the past year, and possibly photos of current city employees, into the time capsule. That would be opened in 2071, 50 years from now.
The time capsule will be buried on Saturday at 3 p.m.
You can view the full schedule for the weekend below.
