Join us in Downtown DeKalb, IL for Corn Fest! Fest admission is free. Ride the carnival rides and browse the many vendors. Live music on the Sound Stage.

Receive unlimited rides all weekend at Corn Fest. Daily Unlimited Ride Wristbands Friday 3pm–7pm: $33 Saturday 11am-4pm: $33 Sunday All Day: $35. More info. Beer Garden. FAMILY FRIENDLY, children under 12 must be accompanied by a parent. Friday 5pm – 11pm $10 entry for all those over 12 years of age after July 31. Saturday Noon – 11pm

The Corn Fest Sound Stage rocks with live music all weekend. Get up front and buy a ticket to the Beer Garden or enjoy all the music from the free area.

General festival admission is free. Free soundstage viewing area on Locust St. between 2nd and 3rd. Admission to the main soundstage & beer garden for premium viewing is $10 a day or $25 for the weekend.

The modern-day Corn Fest, as we know it now with music and vendor booths, began in 1977. At that time, the sound stage and beer garden were located in the alleyway between the Hillside Restaurant and The Egyptian Theatre.

Fest Map Before submitting your payment, please ensure you have added the 3.5% processing fee. If you submitted your application via a form on this website and chose credit card as your payment option, the 3.5% fee will already have been added to the total presented to you.

Public Transportation to and from Corn Fest is available via the City of DeKalb’s Route 16 and Route 17. Both routes begin at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) Holmes Student Center and provide access to Corn Fest every 30 minutes throughout most of the day.

We look forward to working with you again to make this year’s festival another community success and seeing you at the 2025 DeKalb Corn Fest! Feel free to contact us with any questions at 815-748-2676 or vendor@cornfest.com .

Craft Fest will be held on Friday, Aug. 22nd (3pm-8pm), Saturday, Aug. 23rd (11am-8pm) and Sunday, August 24th (11am-6pm). These times do not include the time available for set up. If your application is accepted you will be sent instructions regarding set up the week before the fest. Corn Fest festival hours are as follows: Friday, Aug. 22nd ...

Free steamed sweet corn is available on Saturday during the festival from 11 am until 2 pm (or when corn runs out). More than 25,000 people from around the Midwest attend the event which serves over 70 tons of sweet corn during the weekend!