Join us for the Midwest's best holiday fest with parades, live music, fireworks, and more festive fun! Don’t miss the magic on November 30.

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2018 staff - Liz Miller
Author
Elizabeth Miller

Liz is the Creative Services Manager for the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

Shopping Rockford This Season

We’re less than two weeks away from Christmas so we’re down to crunch time for holiday shopping. My husband and my family are all really good at giving lists early so people have enough time to shop. And then there’s me. I’ll try to come up with a list, and eventually give up or get side tracked until I get asked again…

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2017 4th of July Cheat Sheet

Where did June go? I blinked and all of a sudden, we're coming up to 4th of July festivities in the Rockford region! I won't complain...it's a fun holiday in the area! It's an easy holiday to love. Cookouts, parades, live music, being surrounded by friends and family...plus one of the only holidays where it's totally normal to wear a suit that looks like an American flag (yes, I know people that have worn this)…

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No Snow? No Problem!

Winter birthdays in the Midwestcan be difficult. I should know...my birthday is in January. You can't have outdoor parties (unless you want to freeze) and you can't ask for fun pool toys or cute summer clothes because you won't use them for 6 months! There is one good thing about winter birthdays though...snow! Around my birthday in particular, the Rockford region also gets to celebrate the annual Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition…

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Last Minute Shopping List

We are less than a week away from Christmas! Usually this creates feelings of joyand excitement...unless you haven't finished all your Christmas shopping yet. We're cutting it a little close to Christmas, but I'm going to give you some tips on awesome, local gift ideas you can get quickly right here in the Rockford region…

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Battles and Pyrotechnics at Midway Village

On nice days, one of my favorite things to do is take arelaxing walk around the path at Midway Village Museum. It's so peaceful out there in the wide open spaces and the woods. This weekend, the space will look just a little bit different... Imagine this entire space being transported back to the 1940s. Welcome to World War II Days…

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Escaping Laser Quest

Last year, my older sister and brother-in-law took a trip to Minnesota. While they were there, they mentioned that they were going to be doing an "escape room." Awesome!....what is an escape room? Apparently you're put into a room with a group of people and you have to search the room to find clues and crack codes in order to escape the room. If you can do it during a certain amount of time, you win! If you don't you lose…

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Fun at the Festivals

I've had my fair share of swimming pools, frozen beverages and layers of sunscreen this summer already, but there's one thing in summer that I haven't enjoyed yet: a good old Midwestern festival. Lucky for us here in Rockford, August is FULL of festivals each weekend! These events have pulled out all the stops. There are carnival rides, deep fried food, games with prizes and of course, live music. Here is a rundown of festivals during the month of August here in the Rockford region. Have fun…

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Marching Bands and Phantoms

Imagine standing in an open field with a group of other people, and you're told to move from one spot to another. Sounds easy, right? Now imagine that it's 90 degrees out, you have to move your feet at the EXACT same time as everyone else, you can't bounce when you walk, you can't look down, you might be moving backwards...oh yeah, and you're playing songs from memory on an instrument. Not so easy anymore! This is just the tip of the iceberg of what members of the Phantom Regiment do for every practice and performance…

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Yoga in the Air

When you're a kid, it's not out of the norm to hang upside down on a jungle gym, or swing from a rope on a playground. It is a bit different when you're doing these things as an adult...in a yoga class…

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Paint the Town Red...or Green

One of the main events we put on at the RACVB is our annual Paint the Down(town) Green event to help raise money for our Forest City Beautiful initiative. A couple weeks ago was actually only the second time we've had the event, but each year it gets better and better…

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