McCaleb: Festival season not same without Gala

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Harvard’s Milk Days are in full swing this weekend, marking the unofficial launch of the summer festival season in McHenry County.

But the season won’t be quite the same for me this year because there’s a big hole smack dab in the middle of it.

And that one big hole has caused a small hole in my life in recent weeks.

Missing from the lineup this year – and, it seems, for the foreseeable future – is the Crystal Lake Gala.

After a 22-year run, Gala came to an end after the 2008 festival, largely for financial reasons.

Gala’s troubles in recent years were well-documented in the pages of the Northwest Herald. It had become too big for the tastes of many residents neighboring its traditional home, the Dole Mansion, near the city’s namesake lake. So it moved last year to Lippold Park, where it drew nice crowds but caused logistical problems. There weren’t enough parking spaces, and there was only one way in and out, creating traffic headaches.

Ultimately, Gala didn’t make anywhere near enough money to pay its bills.

With no real good fit for a home and credibility issues with its creditors, it folded.

It saddened me as the festival’s fate started to become clear late last summer. For the past three Galas, I served on the festival’s committee as a volunteer organizer. It was a job I had come to enjoy, despite some busy nights and weekends. I made new friends and gained a greater appreciation for the amount of work involved in putting on a community festival.

It can be easy to take for granted the time and effort it takes to put on such a festival.

What comes and goes over the course of a long weekend takes an entire year to plan and organize.

There are bands to book, insurance to secure, vendors to find, sound systems to set up, volunteers to recruit, parades to plan for ... I could go on and on.

I regret that we as a committee made decisions that ultimately led to Gala’s downfall. But I don’t regret the time I spent with a great group of volunteers, whose ultimate goal was to show the community a good time.

Had it not folded, Gala weekend would be just a month away. Gala volunteers would be working feverishly planning every last detail. I miss being a part of that.

Right now, there are plenty of volunteers putting in long hours so their communities will host great festivals.

Lakeside Festival, which in years past was held the weekend before the Gala at the Dole Mansion property, will take Gala’s place next month on the Fourth of July weekend. I plan to support that festival, and some others in McHenry County, by attending and spending money on local vendors.

This summer won’t be the same without Gala. But I still plan to get my festival fix in.

• Dan McCaleb is editor of the Northwest Herald. He can be reached via e-mail at dmccaleb@nwherald.com.