The City of McHenry is hosting ShamROCKS the Fox for St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The event will be going on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Miller Point Park and include many activities for all ages.
“[The festival] is a collection of activities including dyeing the river green, a parade, and fireworks,” McHenry Chamber of Commerce president Molly Ostap says. “There are also bands, food trucks, green beer, and kids activities like bouncy houses and face painting at Miller Point Park.”
The festival will also include the Kiwanis Shamrock Shuffle 5K starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning.
“ShamROCK the Fox is McHenry’s ultimate St. Patrick’s Day festival,” Ostap says. “The event is produced by the City of McHenry.”
To kick off ShamROCKS the Fox, the city will host live music on Friday, March 15 at Miller Point Park, including party band Realtime Noise and Sunblind, a Sublime tribute act. Live music will continue all weekend.
On Saturday, March 16, the city will dye the Fox River green at 10 a.m., and a parade will wind through downtown and down Green Street starting at noon.
Fireworks will begin at Miller Point Park on Sunday, March 17 at 7 p.m.
Several vendors have set up new retail spaces at the Riverwalk Shoppes downtown for the ShamROCKS the Fox Market and will be selling throughout the weekend.
“Our Happy Space has been selling products for 17 years,” Tamara McMillion, a new vendor selling in the Riverwalk Shoppes says. “As a mother it worked better to work around my kids schedules to have my own business rather than working for somebody.”
McHenry’s ShamROCKS the Fox has been going on for 30 plus years.