Festival of the Lakes

It seems like when I was a kid, "Augustfest", as it was known back then, was so much hipper. But maybe that was because I used to like to go on all the carnival rides. Now, carnies scare me so I tend to stick to the food areas and beer gardens at festivals.

The food isn't half-bad at Hammond's premier lakefront festival. They have some decent pizza from Stateline Pizza, some pretty good bbq, and deep-fried twinkies and candy bars---my favorite summer fare. They also get pretty well-known bands to play. Blues Traveler, Los Lonely Boys, and Smash Mouth headlined this year, along with some country bumpkins who are probably pretty popular, but Lord knows I haven't heard them ever in my lifetime.

It's also free admission.....if you can bypass the $10 parking fee and park on a side street and then hoof it to the festival.

The bad? Well, like any carnival, you'll have the typical carnival-goers. You know the type. The "scaries". The 16-year-old toothless hillbillies dressed in an oversized No. 45 Jordan Bulls jersey, walking around with their 3 kids. They just make the whole festival seem seedy. However, i guess they appear at any fest so you can't really avoid them.

So basically, if you want to see free shows, then this is the festival for you. I went over the weekend and saw Smash Mouth really kick it.