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SOUTHERN FESTIVALS  

You can combine a road trip in Southern Illinois with a little Christmas or birthday shopping and come back with a nice experience to show for the day as well as a unique gift to stash away for the appropriate occasion.

Are you planning on a trip to Southern Illinois? Then you just may want to have some fun while you're visiting. Southern Illinois offers a variety of annual festivals. While planning your trip be sure to schedule in some trips to our annual festivals.

U.S. Interstate 57 runs right through the middle of Marion, IL. If you're traveling I-57 and need to make a stop in Southern Illinois, Marion has plenty to offer you in the way of food, lodging and more. What's available in Marion?

The city of Marion, Illinois, has been fighting for 17 years to build a new city reservoir and chances are the fight will continue for several more years.

Southern Illinois used to gain national attention for riots and property damage on Halloween. Here's how the region cleaned up and replaced the drunken brawl with Halloween fun.

Parades, entertainment, fairs and good food are just a taste of the diversity of summer events here in Southern Illinois. Are you ready to brave the scorching summer heat to enjoy some of the many summer events in Southern Illinois?

Mount Vernon is sometimes considered the northern gateway to all things Southern Illinois. At the crossroads of Interstate 64 and Insterstate 57 and just a few miles south of Interstate 70, the community hopes to draw people southward.

Kansas defeated Southern Illinois 61-58 on Thursday night to advance to the Elite Eight.

An abandoned duffel bag disrupted classes in two buildings at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale on Wednesday while police investigated the threat.

The singing group calling itself the Five Bawdy Wenches have incorporated the Southern Illinois Ren Faire into its own entity and redesigned the fair for more fun.

Just a few of the many Southern Illinois wineries. Many of them offer award-winning wines.

An overview of geocaching, the newest high-tech treasure hunting craze as well as some great resources. Then the inside information you need to plan a trip to the gold mine of geocaches - southern Illinois! If you've never heard of geocaching - beware- it's addictive!

Illinois' second state fair, the DuQuoin State Fair in Southern Illinois, will feature a major switch this year, going from Western World to a jungle theme. On the grandstand: Sawyer Brown and two American idol veterans.

The child advocacy center in Mount Vernon, Illinois, serve a third of this big state and tries to teach children when they should call on adult for help.

As part of his budget proposal, Governor Rod Blagojevich has planned changes to the Illinois Department of Corrections that will eliminate union jobs and replace them with political appointees.

Nationally-known metal-worker and sculptor John Medwedeff found the charm and quiet comfort of Murphysboro, Illinois, made it the perfect place to locate his forge.

The 10-day Illinois State Fair in Springfield this year (Aug 8-17, 2008) will include performances each night from a range of artists including ZZ Top, Weird Al Yankovic, Brooks and Dunn, and Huey Lewis and the News.

An earthquake was felt at around 4:37am in Illinois and other parts of the midwest...

Illinois corn fields are being supplemented by Illinois vineyards thanks in large part to the recent growth in local wineries. Here's how it became a $20 million a year business in the heartland.

Winemaking in Illinois began in the mid 1800's with a Utopian sect called the Icarians. The Shawnee Hills Wine Trail was originally the brainchild of a retired SIU professor who started his own winery in 1984....

Robert Stroud (1890-1963), the Birdman of Alcatraz, is buried in Metropolis, Illinois, a town on the Ohio River, in the southernmost tip of Illinois. Metropolis is also the hometown of Superman, the only town in the entire country with that name.

A nearly-century-old ghost oversees the Godfrey, Illinois campus of Lewis-Clark Community College, quietly haunting the 19th Century buildings amid the newer additions.

The tiny community of Elizabethtown, illinois, boasts one of the state's oldest landmarks, The Rose Hotel, and a spectacular view of the Ohio River. It's worth the trip off the beaten path.

In July, Illinois began a program designed to assure that all children have access to health care, but the plan fails toa ddress big problems in the system and will fail.

J.C. Hagan has a sharp eye and keen wit for Illinois political analysis. It's a shame his take on the elections are right.

Illinois wineries are booming and to head off the competition, each one is trying to come up with the best flavored wine. Some of the new options are very creative and tasty.

After five years of no state funding for school construction, southern Illinois schools needing new facilities were getting desperate. This week, five school boards banded together to do something about it.

The wine industry in Illinois is growing and thriving. Wineries in beautiful northern Illinois are family owned an operated and craft fine vintages of wine.

The tiny community of Metropolis, Illinois, decided decades ago that if Superman lived in the fictional city of Metropolis, they would adopt the comic book hero as their own. The town's devotion makes for a fun afternoon of Superman history.

This is an article pointing out great tourist ideas near Valentine's Day.

Alton is a home to antique shops, ghosts including that of an antique dealer, the ruins of a prison for Confederate soldiers, stops on the Underground Railroad, the Piasa Bird, and a riverboat casino.

Pass Your Plate is part of a growing trends of make it and take it food shops where custoemrs are given the ingredients and the utensils to make dinner and take it home.

Join the St. Simons ghost walk for tales of pirates, gold, and romantic gestures from beyond the grave.

Gail West isn't one of Southern Illinois' good ol' boys, but she's getting to know them as she shows them how the new woman in town recruits employers, businesses and investment.

The ladies of HotFlash Artists Studio hope their art might someday support itself, but in the meantime, they say it's cheaper than therapy.

A lot of choices in Southern Illinois and neighboring St Louis for Independence Day celebrations.

The Big Muddy Monster, a campus ghost, a phantom funeral procession, and more can be found in Southern Illinois.

The small and larger towns of Southern Illinois will celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways this holiday season thanks to Kris Kringle, Charles Dickens, Popeye, St. Nicholas, and the La Guianee singers.

Among Southern Illinois's impressive scenic areas is Fern Clyffe State Park, located near Goreham, with forested remnants from a past ice age in the form of glacial rock formations, geologic faulting and erosion.

On the evening of June 25, 1973, two young people heard the chilling, unearthly scream of some creature in the woods along the Big Muddy River south of Murphrysboro, Illinois.

Ulysses Grant commanded troops here and Union ships sought repairs at the Cairo naval yard. And, 200 years of American soldiers are represented in Mound City Naitonal Cemetery.

More than a dozen countries worldwide are represented by the women of Las Damas Latinas, who share a common language and something of a common culture. Together, they share their memories of the countries where they were born and a love of life.

For the last five years, sports fans across the country have watched the opening round of March Madness and asked, "What is a Saluki?" so here's the answer for a team anticipating another invitation to the Dance.

Illinois' largest state park is Pyramid State Park, located south of Pinckneyville in Perry County. Noted for heavily-forested hills and numerous lakes and ponds, the park measures 19,701 acres.

A look into what has become a tradition for people of the area to participate in reenacting a part of their region's history when it was untamed.

The college experience is unlike any other. Most students are recent high school graduates who are leaving home for the first time, so it is important to find a school that will allow the student to feel most comfortable in his or her new surroundings.

The Peabody Energy project is the largest private capital project in the region. The 16-hundred megawatt power plant is designed to burn coal mined from an adjacent coal mine using the most advanced clean-coal burning technology.

The decades-old Quatro's Deep Pan Pizza is a favorite of alumns and keeps appealing to each coming generation.

There are ten recognized stone forts, actually stone walls that enclosing a section projecting from high isolated bluffs of the Shawnee Hills, generally aligned east and west over a stretch between the Ohio River on the east and Mississippi River in the west.

Haunted houses, hayrides, parties, and a petting zoo with pumpkins and corn maze top the seasonal activities in Southern Illinois.

Crab Orchard Creek in southern Illinois overtopped its banks Wednesday and the water went to the closest, lowest place it could find -- a trailer parkw ith more than 70 households that were evacuated by boat.

The largest gathering of 18th century reenacters in the Midwest is gearing up for the weekend of June 7th and 8th, 2008, at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Randolph County, along the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois.

In 1982, an amateur treasure hunter, Russell E. Burrows, found a remote cave near his hometown of Olney in southern Illinois. He removed more than 7,000 artifacts from the cave and then sealed the entrance using dynamite, following the controversy over his discovery.

For such a small town with just 4,000 people, Chester, Illinois has a lot of ghost stories.

Numerous special activities will be held this Christmas season in Springfield, state capitol of Illinois. Here's a quick review for the holiday season traveler.

Carterville has been waiting for five years for the state to fund its share of building a new high school there. They may have to continue to wiat.

Uno the fabulous beagle who was the first Beagle to win "Best of Show" at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, was recently honored by having a day named after him in the State of Illinois.

Illinois had its strongest earthquake in 40 years, the earthquake was felt for over 900 miles. I happened to be up and driving at that time and felt the rumblings.

A review of Morrelo's Pizza and Grill of Harrisburg, Illinois

The sponsors of the Third Annual 5K Walk With the Dogs on June 7, 2008 in tiny Nashville, Illinois (pop. 3200) will be raising money worldwide for research into pancreatic cancer with the help of the internet.

Illinois lawmakers took until mid-August o pass a budget bill, but still haven't passed a law to implement it. That means state funds ar enot being allocated as intended.

Lyn Flahardy and Janet Russell waited until retirement to take up power-lifting, but they're good at it.

Inside the visitor's center is a recreation of the expedition's 55-foot keelboat in cutaway form so you can see how it was equipped and packed.

Originally encountered by Marquette, the Piasa Bird's painted image can be found on the bluffs above Alton, Illinois today, overlooking the Mississippi River, as it has for hundreds of years past.

Located in the small town of Nashville, Illinois, lies the hidden gem of Washington County Conservation Area

Fund-raising is underway to build Scott Field Heritage Air Park at the gate to Scott Air Force Base with a display of aircraft that have served at the 3,278-acre military installation over the decades.

There are 4,700 people in Illinois and now over 97,000 people nationwide who are waiting for lifesaving transplants. Donate Life Illinois is sponsoring a competition between Illinois colleges and universities to promote the issue of organ donation.

One of the highlights of the 19th Annual Balloon Fest in Centralia, Illinois, this year (Aug 15-17) will be the return of Arky, a hot-air balloon resembling Noah's Ark.

European settlers discovered the limestone cave on the Ohio River nearly 300 years ago, naming it Cave-in-Rock and for the next 100 years after that it was home to pirates, thieves, and murders. It's perfect for a day in the park...

Shannon and Phil Brackett returned home Saturday after a three day evacuation due to flooding, but they don't know yet how bad the damage is.

A charming small town downtown business district, a prehistoric Indian mound, an inn where Dickens stayed, and numerous hauntings are among the many highlights that make this delightful community worth a visit or stopover.

As a native of the South Suburban area of Chicago, hearing about the tornadoes that swept through was a bit terrifying to me. I have tons of family that live in Chicago and in the suburbs and called each and every one of them once I heard about the storms.

More and More Midwest Flooding

When Lauren Herold retired from her job as fulltiem landscape architect in Los Angeles, she knew she wanteds to do something completely different. What she foudn was a 75-acre farm in Southern Illinois, a couple beagles and a new art form.

The haunting of a state landmark.

The living history festival spans the years 1700-1840 and features demonstrations of traditional activities, period food, fife and drum corps, folk dancers and singers, children's activities, as well as reenacters.

Besides grandstand acts, expect carnival rides, a huge agriculture exhibition with daily livestock shows, a demolition derby, bull riding, a petting zoo, food, and the Carnival Midway.

Boiled peanuts are a delicious snack so why does it seem that only Southerners appreciate them?

Join Little Chapel Church for a Labor Day weekend of free family fun at their third annual Liberty Fest.

Governor Blagojevich claims to have vetoed 'pork' projects - but the reality is quite different.

Looking for a great place for your children to go this summer? How about giving church camp a try? Camp Carew offers a variety of camps that children can attend, and promises a memorable experience too.

The Ecolo do Soldat (School of the Soldier) is coming up the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, April 26th and 27th at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site

The Christmas ship festival is beautiful and festive. Reserve a spot on one of the boats, or just check it out from ashore.

The land of Southern NM is a crazy quilt of desert and mountains, of forests and bare rock. But the people are warm and friendly and the festivals of the area are not to be missed.

Mistletoe is a year-round Christmas store located in San Diego's Seaport Village. The shop, situated on San Diego Bay, specializes in unique handcrafted ornaments. Seaport Village has more than 40 specialty shops for Christmas shopping.

There are certain Chinese superstitions that include ways to make sure ghosts keep away!

Nothing says summertime like a festival. Festivals draw communities together, allowing them to enjoy local foods and entertainment with the whole family. Oklahoma City has several festivals coming this summer.

Shopping for Christmas decorations in San Angelo, Texas can be easy. This is because of the many stores that carry Christmas decorations from themed candles to pre-lit trees.

Bronner's is the World's largest Christmas store and a shopper's dream with over 50,000 trims, gifts & collectibles. The Bronner's Christmas Wonderland store and Silent Night Chapel is open year round and Christmas Lane is illuminated nightly.

This Candy CD Christmas Wreath is both a great conversation piece and very easy to create. This festive craft reflects the traditional colors of Christmas, green and red, and it is topped off with a golden painted pinecone

Decorating for Christmas in Midland Texas can be very easy if you know where the decorations and trees can be found.