Events & Activities

Join us next week, October 6th, for Walk n’ Roll to School Day events at various Urbana and Champaign elementary schools! Walk n’ Roll to School Day is an international event that encourages students to make healthier choices for them and the environment. Walking and biking are great forms of exercise, and fairly easy to integrate into a child's daily routine. Walking and biking offers children an opportunity to get to know their neighborhood, learn and practice safe pedestrian habits, and prepares them for the school day.

Join Urbana Arts and Culture Program and Spurlock Museum of World Cultures next week for the last Contemporary Conversations program with artists from the Great ARTdoors program. For the Great ARTdoors, Spurlock partnered 40 North, the Urbana Arts and Culture Program, the Champaign Park District, and the Urbana Park District to provide local artists stipends to create art in Champaign and Urbana parks and community gardens.

On Thursday, October 7th at 7:00 pm, artists Gary Beaumont (Planetary Platters at Beardsley Park in Champaign), Kim Curtis (Harvest at Weaver Park in Urbana), Janelle Davenport-Pleasure (Seeds of Injustice at Spurlock Museum), EKAH (Entre Chien et Loup [Between Dog and Wolf] at South Ridge Park in Urbana), and Mohan Tracy (Waiting to Fly at Crystal Lake Park in Urbana) will talk about the inspiration behind their art, their artistic process, and their participation in the Great ARTdoors.

This in-person program takes place at Spurlock Museum’s Knight Auditorium and will also be streamed live to the Museum’s Facebook page!

Champaign, Urbana, and Champaign County Announce 2021 Trick-or-Treat Hours 

CHAMPAIGN - The Cities of Champaign and Urbana and Champaign County have set Trick-or-Treat hours for Halloween, including tips to make the holiday safer for everyone. Trick-or-treating in Champaign and Urbana will be held on Sunday, October 31, 2021, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. 

Once again this year, area residents are encouraged to take appropriate health and safety precautions, including avoiding large groups and practicing social distancing if handing out candy or going door to door trick-or-treating. In consultation with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, the following safety tips are recommended for those who choose to participate in trick-or-treating while the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and small children are not yet eligible to be vaccinated:

•Individuals participating in trick-or-treating, including those passing out candy, should practice social distancing and avoid spending time in large crowds whenever possible.

Urbana - Hot on the heels of the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) the Solar Urbana-Champaign group buy program is gaining momentum as it surpasses its first goal of 50kW with seven properties going solar. Building on past successes, the City of Urbana is combining efforts with several partners to offer Solar Urbana-Champaign to property owners throughout Champaign, Piatt, and Vermillion Counties at prices lower than market rate. The program uses the combined purchasing power of the community to lower costs for a limited time. 

Sustainability & Resilience Officer for the City of Urbana, Scott Tess, stated that “Solar-Urbana Champaign is helping home and business owners contribute to the State of Illinois’ new zero emissions power sector goals by 2045 by taking demand off traditional power supply and onto distributed solar.”  The new State goal was mandated in CEJA, signed by Governor Pritzker last week.