Naperville Gears Up for Last Fling

Naperville kicks off its last hurrah of the summer this Friday when it celebrates the annual Last Fling Labor Day weekend event.

From eating contests to national musical acts, there will be something for everyone at this year’s Naperville Jaycees’ Last Fling, which takes place from Friday, Aug. 31 to Monday, Sept. 3 along at Main Street and Jackson Avenue in downtown Naperville.

Proceeds from the Last Fling are given to several Naperville and DuPage-area nonprofit organizations.

“Last Fling is something we put on for Naperville residents and for the community," said Naperville Jaycees volunteer and Last Fling committee member Courtney Brown. "We get so much support from them throughout the year, so this serves as our ‘thank you’ back to them.”

Brown said volunteers from the Naperville Jaycees and other community organizations play an important role every year and have been gearing up to help out during the event. 

“We have about 1000 volunteers and it’s a combination of community organizations, parent groups and just individual people who want to give back for a few hours,” Brown said.

A big attraction this year for festivalgoers will be the musical acts. Four-time Grammy winner Pat Benatar is scheduled to play the Main Stage at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2 after Blue Oyster Cult performs at 6 p.m. 

Other acts include country artist Chris Cagle playing at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1 and Chicago's own Ides of March on Friday, August 31 at 8 p.m.  

Ticket prices for the main stage are $10 on Friday and $15 on Saturday and Sunday. For Monday, admission is free in honor of Military Appreciation Day.

Along with music, the Last Fling will have a number of kid-friendly events taking place in the free Family Fun Land area on the Naper Settlement grounds. Kids can enjoy ice cream eating contests, duck races and meet Debbie Ryan from Disney’s “Jessie” TV series.

Brown also said presale carnival mega passes, which give unlimited rides all weekend, are still available at select Jewel locations until Thursday, Aug. 30. The carnival will take place along Jackson Avenue going west from Main Street to Centennial Beach.

To wrap up Naperville's farewell to summer, an annual Labor Day parade will be held on Monday, Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. and is set to have more than 100 entries.

Parking is available in various locations downtown and free shuttle buses will be running from the ,  and .

Tickets for the annual festival and for main stage acts are also availabe at http://www.lastfling.org/.

For more information, visit the Naperville Jaycees' Last Fling site.