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This Saturday and Sunday, the sleepy town of Makanda will pay homage to one of its featured wildlife attractions, the often-lauded but very necessary vulture.
As part of the annual Vulture Fest, the event features live music in the town pavilion, various kinds of food and a plethora of artists and craftsmen selling and displaying their goods all weekend long from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
This year, the featured music performers in the pavilion on Saturday are: The Locked Sound at 11:30 a.m., The Bourbon Knights at 1:30 p.m. and the Woodbox Gang at 3:30 p.m. The Sunday pavilion performers are: Dave Black at 11:30 a.m., Loose Gravel at 1:30 p.m. and the Kevin Lucas Orchestra at 3:30 p.m. Through out the weekend in the Rainmakers Backyard will be magician Ben Stuparits and musical groups New Arts Jazz Quartet, Big Muff and Dean.
Some of the featured arts and crafts on display and for sale include handmade jewelry, corn husk dolls, Inca sweaters, chainsaw carvings, stained glass, Native American art, candles, weavings, tie-dyes and natural bath products to name a few.
Aside from the visiting sellers, is the historical Makanda boardwalk home to year-round local businesses. Some of this year's food vendors will be providing the standard festival food such as corndogs, funnel cakes and barbecue, and some will be adding the unique flavors of fried green tomatoes and jambalaya.
Located at the southern edge of Giant City State Park, Makanda is immersed in the state park's natural beauty and has become one with its native flora and fauna.
The vultures are among the more prominent creatures inhabiting the immediate area, choosing the rocky cliffs around the town to build their nests and raise their young, all the while fulfilling their role in nature's intricate food web as the scavengers or "sanitation workers" of the forest.
Originally called "North Pass," Makanda began to prosper in the late 1850s when the Illinois Central Railroad built a station, watering station and boarding house along Drury Creek. The Great Depression hit the small agricultural and commercially-based town hard though. The hustle and bustle that once was is only a memory. Now, according to the 2000 census, approximately 419 people call Makanda home.
