Joliet will bring back Race Fan Rally while planning for dancing, exercise classes and more on the new City Square this year.

Ann Sylvester, the city’s special events director, gave a preview of what’s to come downtown and at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park during the City Council meeting Tuesday.

“We’re very excited to say we’re partnering with NASCAR to bring back Race Fan Rally,” Sylvester told the council.

Race Fan Rally was a regular event that created a racing atmosphere downtown ahead of NASCAR weekends at the Chicagoland Speedway before the races were called off in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The races have not returned to Joliet since.

NASCAR announced last year that it will return to Chicagoland Speedway this year from July 3 to 5.

Fans returning to downtown Joliet for Race Fan Rally will find a new City Square, which still is under construction.

Sylvester said the city plans to use the square for a variety of activities this year.

Those activities include:

• morning fitness classes

• evening dancing, which will include classes and open dancing

• a series of outdoor concerts featuring local and regional performers

• family story times in association with the Joliet Public Library, whose Ottawa Street Branch is on the north edge of the square

During the summer, the city also plans:

• outdoor movies on the square

• classic car shows connected to live music performances

• monthly family-friendly performances arranged in partnership with the Joliet Public Library

Sylvester also said the city will partner with the Joliet Drama Guild at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park.

Joliet Drama Guild activities at Bicentennial Park, located on the west bank of the Des Plaines River across from downtown Joliet, will include a “Bridge to Broadway” summer camp for youth and adults and the city’s first Spanish-language theater production.

The guild said the production will be “entirely in Spanish.”

Sylvester has said she plans to release a calendar of events planned for the City Square and Bicentennial Park by the end of January.

A year of milestones

The city is planning a number of special events to mark milestones in 2026, including:

• the 100th anniversary of historic Route 66, which runs through downtown

• the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence

• the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Rialto Square Theatre

Sylvester said the city also is developing a strategy to care for murals, sculptures and other forms of art in the city’s public spaces.