Of Notoriety: Pierogi Fest nets Five for Fighting, fairs bring Ludacris, Bill Murray, Snoop
It's also the prime of festival and fair season, with stage entertainment featuring marquee headliners.
The 31st Annual Pierogi Fest in Whiting is the weekend of July 25-27, and playing the free entertainment stage is Five For Fighting, led by singer John Ondrasik, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26, sponsored by Hard Rock Casino.
The songwriter and performer is a platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated name, whose first major single, 'Superman (It's Not Easy),' had constant radio play when it was released in 2000. Five For Fighting has released six studio LPs, including the platinum certified 'America Town' and 'The Battle for Everything,' along with the top-10 charting 'Two Lights.'
Ondrasik's writing includes major hits, including the chart-topping '100 Years,' 'The Riddle,' 'Chances,' 'World,' and 'Easy Tonight,' which combined have earned 2 billion streams and place him among the top-10 Hot Adult Contemporary artists for the 2000s. The reflective and melodic '100 Years' continues to stand the test of time as a new favorite in recent decades, played at weddings, birthdays, graduations and memorials.
Five For Fighting's music has also been featured in more than 350 films, television shows and commercials, including the Oscar-winning 'The Blind Side,' 'Hawaii Five-O,' 'The Sopranos' and the CBS drama, 'Code Black.'
The main stage at Pierogi Fest is just one of six performance stages at the festival, sprawling through 119th Street in downtown Whiting. Last year, Sugar Ray was the featured headliner and in 2023, Smash Mouth, and in previous years, The Village People. Featuring more than 50 musical performances and entertainment offerings this year, the festival will include more than 75 food booths, two beer gardens, and 55 arts and crafts and tchotchke vendors.
The following famed names and talents await fair audiences in July and August 2025:
LaPorte County Fair, July 5-12, welcomes country music newcomers Warren Zeiders and Austin Williams as a double-bill performing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 10. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets range from $40 to $65, plus admission to the fair and parking are not free. FYI: https://lpfair.com/ or (219) 362-2647.
Porter County Fair is July 17-26, with rapper Ludacris performing on the Grand Stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 18. Tickets are $40 and $45 plus fair admission. Parking is free. FYI: www.portercountyfair.com or 219-462-0321.
Lake County Fair Aug. 1-10, country music new superstars Russell Dickerson and Niko Moon as a double-bill, 5 p.m. July 31. Tickets range from $39 to $111 plus fair admission. Parking is free. FYI: www.lake-county-fair.com or 219-663-3617
Indiana State Fair Friday Aug. 1-Sunday Aug. 17, with headliners: Aug. 1-Three Dog Night, Aug. 7-America, Aug. 8 – Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers, Aug. 13 – Happy Together Tour (The Turtles, The Vogues, Little Anthony, Jay and The Americans, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap), Aug. 14 – Phil Vassar and Lonestar – 7:30 pm, Aug. 15 – Melissa Etheridge. All concert times are at 7:30 p.m. EST. General seating is free with fair admission and a parking fee. General Reserved Access Tickets are $61 and Premium Reserved Access tickets, $81.50-$107.25. FYI: www.indianastatefair.com or 317-927-7500.
Illinois State Fair Aug. 7 through Aug. 17, with headlining concerts Aug. 8 – Jake Owen, Aug. 9 – The Black Crowes, Aug. 12 – Sheryl Crow, Aug. 13 – Snoop Dogg, Aug. 14 – Brad Paisley and Aug. 16 – Def Leppard. All concerts at 8 p.m. Ticket price range: $30-125 plus fair admission and parking fee. FYI: http://statefair.illinois.gov or 217-782-666.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Superman's father taught me how to write
Jennifer Finney Boylan is president of PEN America. Her newest book is 'Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us.' Superman's father taught me my most important lesson at college. I don't mean Jor-El, the Kryptonian scientist who foresaw the fate of his doomed planet, nor do I mean the various versions of 'Pa Kent,' who adopted the baby from another planet, and, along with his wife, raised him as their own.
Tom's Guide
2 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
Every movie Superman, ranked: Who wore the cape best?
Ever since Superman first arrived on the scene, his adventures splayed across the pages of "Action Comics #1" in 1938, the Kryptonian superhero captured the imagination of audiences everywhere. So it's only natural that, in addition to his appearances in the world of comic books, he's made the leap (in a single bound) to the big screen several times over. But not all iterations of Superman are created equal. While all of the actors who portrayed the Man of Steel put in strong performances, some were let down by subpar productions. Which Superman actors did the best job of embodying one of America's most famous heroes? Read on to find out. No disrespect to Henry Cavill, who is a perfectly capable performer and has been delightful in many roles, but his version of Superman is a bit of a slog to get through. Although he's believable as a superhero, he's all Superman and no Clark Kent, which robs the character of a lot of its charm. Furthermore, he's playing an unusually broody version of Superman in several of the character's darkest outings, some of which see him in conflict with an equally angsty Batman. We think that Cavill has the potential to make a very good Superman (although Clark Kent is a bit more of a stretch), but he had the misfortune of being featured in some of the dingiest and most depressing superhero films in recent memory. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. George Reeves' only big-screen outing as Superman came in the schlocky 1951 movie "Superman and the Mole People," so it's fair to say that the budget his version of the character was operating with was a far cry from our modern-day Supermen. But the film was successful enough to lead to the "Adventures of Superman" television series, which was incredibly popular. Although Reeves is now overshadowed by the many other actors who have worn the trunks and cape, he's responsible for defining much of the character's on-screen presence that we now take for granted. When Brandon Routh was cast as Superman, it just sort of made sense. Look at the guy — he's a perfect physical match for the role. But while his performance as Superman leans into the whole 'truth, justice, and the American way' thing, he's let down by the less-than-compelling film that surrounds him. Much like Andrew Garfield's run as Spider-Man, pop culture history will remember him as an excellent Superman who was cursed with a production that didn't quite serve his talents. Still, we see a lot of potential in his version of the character, and wish that we could have seen more of him. As part of the new DC universe helmed by James Gunn, David Corenswet's Superman is a breath of fresh air. After years of Superman films that embrace a dark, gritty aesthetic, it's refreshing to have a version of the character who's a bright little ball of sunshine. This is not a Superman agonizing over his place in the universe; he's just a nice boy from Smallville who was raised in a loving, supportive environment and is secure in himself as a person. Sorenswet brings an old Hollywood charm to the character, thoroughly embodying both the heroism of Superman and the aw-shucks demeanor of Clark Kent. Often, actors playing this role tend to lean into either Clark Kent or his alter ego, but Corenswet is equally adept at both. For many fans, Christopher Reeve is the definitive Superman. The films that he starred in as Superman (well, the first few, anyway) are beloved by viewers, even with their somewhat dated special effects. Reeve perfectly embodied the confident, all-American heroics of Superman and the bumbling antics of Clark Kent, but the most impressive part of his performance was how easily he was able to shift between the two with just his body language. It's a long-running joke that people must be blind not to realize that Superman and Clark Kent are the same guy, but with Reeve in the role, you can kind of buy it.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
We desperately need a dose of ‘Truth, Justice, and the American Way'
OK, I'll say it. I'm sick of superheroes. I blame the Marvel Cinematic Universe (36 movies and counting over 17 years) and the DC Extended Universe (43 movies and counting, mostly since the late 1970s). Maybe Earth's not big enough for two universes. They're running pretty thin these days, down to rebooting reboots, making sequels for prequels and squeezing every ounce from the intellectual property tube to fill out streaming platform minutes. But there's always Superman. The Krypton-born alien, orphaned, sent off into space for survival and then raised by adoptive parents in Kansas. He's now been with American pop culture for 10 decades (eight in film). Despite an outfit modeled after a circus strongman, he's become a durable, transcendent symbol of the ultimate immigrant and somehow a simultaneous embodiment of 'Truth, Justice, and the American Way.' Superman's the classic American good guy, and so this weekend's opening of the new 'Superman' with David Corenswet is a great time to think about the real good guys and gals in American life — that is, if you can find any. Where are all the good guys and gals in America? What qualifies someone for the title these days? The idea has definitely shifted. It's as if by sheer screen volume the fake superheroes overwhelmed the public consciousness. Superheroes are dialed up so high we can't hear what real heroes sound like anymore. A 2008 poll in Britain found almost a quarter thought Winston Churchill was fake, while a majority of Britons believed Sherlock Holmes was real. We've become confused: We prefer to watch fake heroes on screen rather than expect real ones to emerge in life. And so the fake ones become the only kind of hero we recognize. The historian Daniel Boorstin described this transition from heroism to fame in his 1961 book 'The Image.' He noted that heroes in American history were typically known for great public contribution through immense difficulty and danger. It didn't matter much what they looked like because their deeds had saved lives and mattered to so many. But pictures and movies changed everything in the 20th century. Heroes became celebrities. We traded away enduring contributions to the public good in exchange for flimsy, flashy fame that works for a paycheck. Value over values; money over all. This isn't hard to see. Look at how college sports has been conquered by contracts and name-image-likeness deals. How law firms kowtowed to an administration making unprecedented demands. How media heavyweights keep bending knees to the same. And let's not get started with social media 'influencers' except to say that doing the right and honest thing has been swept aside by the twin tsunamis of popularity and the Almighty Buck. Where's our real truth, our real justice, our real American way? Not in Congress. The 'Big Beautiful Bill' is a perfect example. It might take a Mt. Rushmore makeover to honor the profound contributions to cowardice in the votes surrounding this act. Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) couldn't vote fast enough to add trillions to the national debt despite arguing, less than a year ago, that Congress is 'turning a blind eye to this $35 trillion in debt,' that it's 'unsustainable' and that 'we have to get our fiscal house in order, and we have to do this for our children and our grandchildren.' Or Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), long-time fiscal hawk on the debt, who repeatedly railed against the Big Beautiful Bill's deficit spending in the final stretch. And then he voted for it. Or Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), known for saying 'we must ignore calls to cut Medicaid' because 'slashing health insurance for the working poor' would be 'both morally and politically suicidal.' That was in May. But come July, Hawley voted to cut Medicaid. The final vote came down to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). In a mid-June town hall, she said, 'I have made clear very early on that we cannot move forward with a bill that makes cuts to Medicaid.' And yet, despite the fact that nearly 40,000 Alaskans (more than 5% of the state's population) will likely lose their healthcare coverage as a direct result of the bill, Murkowski caved. Sarah Longwell, founder and publisher of the Bulwark, spared nothing in her criticism of Murkowski. She wrote that this one action 'defines our pathetic political moment,' embodying: 'Selfishness: I'm taking care of me and mine, the rest of you can pound sand; Lack of accountability: I know the bill is bad, hopefully someone else will fix it; Cowardice: I'm scared of Trump and his voters and need to go-along to get along with my GOP colleagues; Moral rot: I know the difference between right and wrong, and actively chose wrong.' Not exactly Superman. Sounds more like Lex Luthor at his most self-serving and callous. We don't need someone faster than a speeding bullet in the House. We don't need senators leaping tall buildings in a single bound. We don't need Superman. But we do need our Clark Kents and Lois Lanes to step up. We do need our real heroes right now. Maybe Crank or Roy or Hawley or Murkowski will see the movie this weekend. Maybe they'll find some courage for the next vote. Maybe. ML Cavanaugh is the author of the forthcoming book 'Best Scar Wins: How You Can Be More Than You Were Before.' @MLCavanaugh
