July 25, 2025
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Merchant Street MusicFest returns for 15th year this weekend

By Stephanie Markham
Spectators gather at the Hill Stage during Merchant Street MusicFest in July 2023 in downtown Kankakee.

Spectators gather at the Hill Stage during Merchant Street MusicFest in July 2023 in downtown Kankakee. (Daily Journal/Tiffany Blanchette)

Downtown Kankakee will be bustling and booming with the sounds of live music this weekend as the annual Merchant Street MusicFest returns.

The 15th fest will take place Friday and Saturday at the Harold & Jean Miner Festival Square, 199 S. East Ave., with more than 30 music acts to descend upon three stages.

The All American Throwbacks, a Chicago-area emo and pop-punk cover band, is set to headline the Merchant Street Stage starting at 9:30 p.m. Friday. The band plays popular tracks from groups like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, Green Day, Paramore, and The All-American Rejects.

Warren G, a rapper known for helping to popularize West Coast hip-hop during the 1990s, is set to headline the Merchant Street Stage starting at 10:20 p.m. Saturday.

His hit songs include “Regulate,” “This D.J.,” “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None),” “Nobody Does It Better,” “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” and “Party We Will Throw Now!”

Tickets cost $10 for Friday admission and $15 for Saturday admission at the gate. Kids 12 and younger are free both days.

Advance tickets are available on the third floor of the Kankakee Public Library through 7 p.m. Thursday. Two-day passes are available in the presale for $20.

The music will be from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday, with gates to open a half hour before the start of the fest each day.

The Kankakee Public Library took over the event in 2010 and skipped the year 2020 due to the pandemic, making this the 15th festival the library has planned as the Kankakee Events Partnership.

Allison Beasley, Kankakee Public Library director, noted that security will be checking bags as a safety measure as guests enter the fest.

Attendees are able to bring any kind of bag; however, bags will be searched upon entry. Outside food, drinks, coolers, glass containers or any illegal or unsafe materials are prohibited.

Empty reusable bottles are allowed, and free water refill stations will be available.

Last year’s fest attracted more than 8,000 people over both days.

Beasley said Tuesday that tickets have been selling at about the same pace as last year, and she expects sales will ramp up later in the week.

“They are steady now,” she said. “We are happy with the sales that we have. We expect them to go a little crazier starting [Wednesday].”

This year’s fest will showcase a multitude of genres, with everything from punk, indie, rock, R&B, gospel, bluegrass and jazz to country being represented.

This year also will feature more local acts than past years, with about one-third of the performers being from the Kankakee region.

The fest also will feature art vendors on both days, along with a variety of food and drink vendors.

Dining options are set to include Bamboo Island Snack Shack, Brother George’s BBQ, Conway’s Concessions, Candy & Cake, Kona Ice, Martinez Tacos, MiaBella’s Wood Fired Pizza, Moe’s Food Truck, Open Road Soda, Que It Up BBQ, Sweet Darren’s, Uplifted Bistro and Wicked Food Truck.

For more information, visit merchantstreetmusicfest.com or see the Merchant Street MusicFest’s Facebook page.

See the lineup and set times listed below.

Merchant Street Stage - Friday

  • All American Throwbacks: 9:30 to 11 p.m.
  • Lowdown Brass Band: 8:10 to 9:10 p.m.
  • Three’s A Crowd: 6:50 to 7:50 p.m.
  • Katzpa Jammas: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
  • DJ Jason Neuman: 5 to 5:30 p.m.

Merchant Street Stage - Saturday

  • Warren G: 10:20 to 11 p.m.
  • N-Deep: 8:45 to 9:55 p.m.
  • 10 Grand Band: 7:20 to 8:20 p.m.
  • Winslow, Arizona: A Tribute to The Eagles - 5:10 to 6:55 p.m.
  • King Chameleon: 3:10 to 4:45 p.m.
  • DJ Broke Dusty: 2 to 2:45 p.m.

Hill Stage - Friday

  • The People Brothers Band: 10 to 11 p.m.
  • Reilly Downes & The Acid Cowboys: 8:40 to 9:40 p.m.
  • Ur Mom: 7:20 to 8:20 p.m.
  • Deconstructing Jim: 6:05 to 7 p.m.
  • Chicos: 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.

Hill Stage - Saturday

  • The Bright Light Social Hour: 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.
  • Smut: 8:10 to 9:10 p.m.
  • Nevernever: 7 to 7:50 p.m.
  • wht.rbbt.obj: 5:50 to 6:40 p.m.
  • Carrying Torches: 4:40 to 5:25 p.m.
  • Adrian + Meredith: 3:25 to 4:20 p.m.
  • Slap Bunt: 2:35 to 3:05 p.m.
  • Junebug: 2 to 2:20 p.m.

Platform Stage - Friday

  • Kara Grainger: 8:55 to 10 p.m.
  • Ivan Singh Trio: 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
  • Master James and the Show Stoppahs: 6:20 to 7:05 p.m.
  • Phones and Bones: 5:10 to 5:55 p.m.

Platform Stage - Saturday

  • Dottie Kelly: 8:40 to 10 p.m.
  • JR Clark Band: 7:15 to 8:15 p.m.
  • Melody Angel: 5:40 to 6:50 p.m.
  • Los Tamales Jazz: 3:50 to 5:20 p.m.
  • Luis Luchessi: 2:15 to 3:30 p.m.