What Did You Think Of This Year’s Eyes to the Skies?

Did you attend this year’s Eyes to the Skies festival? How did it stack up to previous years? What did you enjoy most? How was crowd control? What you would like to see changed in the future?

Weather
The weather wasn’t very cooperative for the open or close of this year’s festival. 

Event officials called an end to Friday night’s festivities shortly after Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels took the stage, anticipating an incoming storm. Visitors were asked to file out of the park as crews hurried to deflate balloons. (I was one of about a dozen volunteers to help deflate Bud E. Beaver, a 30-minute process that required stepping on, rolling over, and jumping on the balloon.)

Rains rolled into the area around 10 p.m.

“We would like to thank everyone who came out last night and apologize for having to shut down the park early. We feel we made the right call at the right time to make sure everyone got home and shuttled back to their cars safely,” festival organizers said on the event’s official Facebook page on Saturday.

Another storm early Sunday afternoon knocked down trees and caused flooding in several counties, including DuPage, and left a significant portion of Chicagoland residents without power. (More than 86,000 ComEd customers remained without power Monday night, according to ABC7.)

The village got through the storm relatively unscathed. Only a handful of Lisle residents were affected by outages Sunday, who have since been restored, according to ComEd.

The storm pushed the festival’s scheduled 11 a.m. start until after 1 p.m.

Ultimately, winds affected several balloon launches, but visitors were able to view inflated balloons on the field. Tethered rides were also available.

Traffic and Security
In addition to event security, were out in full force this weekend.

Watch Commander Ron Wilke said officers who weren’t regularly scheduled for shifts that day or night were called to Community Park. Two officers were stationed at festival entrances to direct outgoing traffic starting around 9 p.m., he said.

Buses shuttled visitors to parking at Benet Academy and Walker Athletics.

The re-opening of the Short Street bridge after last year's construction brought some relief to traffic flow. Last year, the majority of foot traffic filed out the west side of the grounds to Yackley Avenue. 

“Last year was kind of an anomaly,” Wilke said.

A shortly after the fireworks show on July 3 last year. Several Patch readers reported pedestrians disregarding crosswalks, though Lisle police never officially said the victim, Donna Early, had been jaywalking that evening.

Lisle resident James Kisla is currently fighting aggravated DUI charges related to the incident in DuPage County Court. He to allegations he had a mix of alcohol and painkillers in his system at the time of the fatal crash.

Attractions
The carnival rides didn’t change much from last year—which ones would you recommend for future festivals? What did you snack on? What did you think of the Children’s Area? 

Need a refresher on this year’s musical acts and activities? Scroll through our .

Send us your Eyes to the Skies photos at karlie@patch.com and we'll add them to our Facebook page!