Gurnee, Illinois
Throughout the 1981 season, Marriott’s Great America will bring some of the nation’s top entertainers to Gurnee, Illinois in a fabulous series of special events that provide that added sparkle to the park’s festive atmosphere.
On Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17, Great America celebrates a weekend of inspirational music, fun, and fellowship. Headlining the entertainment for the second annual family Joy Festival are Andrae Crouch, Danniebelle Hall, and Chuck Girard, with concerts in Great America’s Wilderness Theater.
Barbara Mandrell, the Country Music Association’s 1979 ‘Entertainer of the Year’ and star of her own network television show, “Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters”, returns to Great America with four fantastic shows on Saturday and Sunday, July 4 and 5, for WMAQ Radio’s Country Music Festival. Topping off the park’s Fourth of July holiday celebration is a spectacular array of fireworks on Saturday evening.
WMAQ Radio again hosts the Labor Day Weekend Country Music Festival, with performances by country music star, Don Williams, on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Septermber 5, 6, and 7. Williams, who was named the Country Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year in 1978, appears for six shows during the three-day festival.
Fall weekends are a colorful time at Great America, and this season’s line-up of fall special events includes the Great America Rockfest on Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13, and the annual Oktoberfest celebration on three weekends: September 19 and 20; September 26 and 27; and October 3 and 4. The hottest rock bands in the Midwest provide entertainment for the second annual Rockfest, while the wonderful ethnic dancing and music of the Old Country set the stage for Great America’s Oktoberfest.
All special events are included in the park’s one-price admission ticket. Marriott’s Great America is located midway between Chicago and Milwaukee on Interstate 94 in Gurnee, Illinois.
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