Events & Activities

Solar Eclipse Party at the Urbana Free Library

Submitted by admin on August 14, 2017 - 10:28am

Date:

August 21, 2017 - 11:00am

Solar Eclipse Party for Children
Monday, August 21 • 11:00 - 11:45 AM

Today is the day! Come celebrate the arrival of the solar eclipse with stories, songs, and a craft. For children of all ages.

Solar Eclipse 2017 Party
Monday, August 21 • 11:45 AM - 2:45 PM

The Library invites the community to experience one of the marvels of nature at a solar eclipse viewing event. We won’t see a total eclipse in Urbana but we expect 93% coverage of the Sun, which should occur at 1:20 PM.

Bring your lawn chair and watch the solar eclipse outside on Cherry Alley. The Library available a limited number of free eclipse glasses (maximum of three pairs per family).

Looking directly at the sun is unsafe. The only safe way to look directly at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses” or hand-held solar viewers. For more information, visit https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov.

Electronics Recycling Event - Registration Opens September 5

Submitted by CourtneyR on August 14, 2017 - 8:53am

Date:

September 5, 2017 - 8:00am

The next residential electronics recycling event for participating* communities will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2017, at Parkland College, Champaign. All households MUST register online to attend the event.

Online registration opens on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, at 8:00 a.m. This event is the only opportunity locally to recycle CRT (or 'tube') TVs. There is a limit of 2 TVs per household. Other electronic devices such as computers, monitors, printers, cameras and more will be accepted at the event, with a 10 item limit of electronic devices per household accepted. Households that register will be mailed a postcard that must be brought to the event for entry. Please see the attached postcard for a complete list of electronic devices accepted at the event.

Enjoy our Natural Lawn!

Submitted by ScottT on August 14, 2017 - 8:10am

Date:

September 16, 2017 - 10:00am

Starting in the spring of 2018, the City of Urbana Public Works will manage grass on the City Building’s south lawn free of environmental and health concerns for children, pets, and wildlife by not applying synthetic lawn pesticides and fertilizers.

“The City of Urbana strives to keep our community a healthy place for everyone to enjoy,” said Mayor Diane Marlin. “Helping residents reduce use of synthetic lawn pesticides and fertilizers provides a safer environment for people, pets, and our rivers and streams.”

Paper Shredding & Mini Recycling Fair at the Urbana Free Library

Submitted by admin on August 7, 2017 - 10:20am

Date:

August 19, 2017 - 9:00am to 12:00pm

To raise awareness of and help prevent consumer fraud and identity theft, The Urbana Free Library and State Senator Scott Bennett will be offering a paper shredding event for Urbana-Champaign residents.

Experts recommend shredding bank statements, credit card offers, and credit card convenience checks, canceled credit cards, canceled checks, pay stubs, and old photo IDs that are more than three years old. The shredding event is for residential paper shredding only with a two box per person limit. Please plan to take empty boxes home with you.

You also can bring old batteries, used cell phones, eyeglasses, metal keys, and inkjet cartridges to the Mini Recycling Fair, which is scheduled at the same time as the shredding event.

For more information about the Shredding & Mini Recycling Fair, contact Senator Bennett’s office at 217-355-5252 (http://www.senatorbennett.com/) or The Urbana Free Library (http://www.urbanafreelibrary.org/) at 217-367-4405.

Urbana Sweetcorn Festival To Emphasize Local Bands, Vendors

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on July 31, 2017 - 9:11am

Date:

August 26, 2017 - 11:00pm

sweetcorn logo The Urbana Sweetcorn Festival is going back to its local roots.

Paris Baldarotta says she’s been thinking about ways to make the event more local for years, even before she was hired as executive director by Urbana Business Association in October 2015. The UBA organizes the festival.

“It occurred to me before I ever started at UBA,” she said. “When I attended, I wondered ‘Where are the local businesses and vendors?’ There were a lot of carnival vendors.”

This year, the local emphasis is front and center for the Aug. 25-26 festival.

Instead of tired headline bands that had a hit song or two in the 1980s, the Sweetcorn Festival this year will feature popular local bands as headliners, including the Boat Drunks from 9:30 to 11 p.m. on Friday night (Aug. 25) and Candy Foster and the Shades of Blue from 10:15 to 11:15 p.m. on Saturday night (Aug. 26).

Urbana First Fridays

Submitted by admin on July 6, 2017 - 9:10am

Date:

July 7, 2017 - 4:00pm to 11:00pm

July brings Urbana First Fridays three new businesses in downtown to enjoy! Blackbird Urbana, The Gilbert Gallery, and Spark Museum + Play Cafe! Boom. Pow. Wow. What other newness can you experience?

Some of UIUC’s top student startups from the University of Illinois College of Business’ iVenture Accelerator.

As you know, at 4pm lots of great activities start, but 5pm is when Main Street will start shutting down with content starting at 5:30.

For more information, check out https://imbibeurbana.com/

Urbana Free Library Pop-up Library @ First Fridays

Submitted by admin on July 6, 2017 - 9:02am

Date:

July 7, 2017 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm

The Library is popping up where you least expect it. We're teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to create Everybody's Living Room, an outdoor spot where we'll have cozy couches and chairs and lots of great Library stuff (including comics/graphic novels, board games, popular books, and more).

Stop by and get a Library card, check something out, or just relax and socialize. You also can come inside the Library -- we'll be open for First Fridays until 8:00 p.m.

For more information, contact Carol Inskeep (cinskeep@urbanafree.org) or call 217-367-4405. To learn more about Imbibe Urbana First Fridays, visit their website at imbibeurbana.com.

Comic Con 17: Celebrating Comics and Fandom Since 2016

Submitted by admin on June 27, 2017 - 10:21am

Date:

August 5, 2017 - 11:00am to 4:00pm

Dress up in your favorite cosplay and prepare for a day full of all the pop culture and geeky things you love. Comic Con 2017 will embrace all fandoms: from dungeon crawling D&Ders to Death Note loving otakus to gamers who just want one more hour of Minecraft™ or Super Smash Bros™, and hardcore Supernatural fans who make memes for every situation.

For a preliminary schedule of events, visit the Comic Con 2017 page on The Urbana Free Library website.

Comic Con is generously sponsored by Illini Media and Peggy and Bob Podlasek in memory of Greg Bliss.

For more information contact Rachel Fuller at rfuller@urbanafree.org or Lauren Chambers at lchambers@urbanafree.org.

RESCHEDULED: Urbana Boneyard Creek Cleanup

Submitted by BethR on June 6, 2017 - 1:27pm

Date:

August 5, 2017 - 9:00am to 12:00pm

This year's 12th annual Boneyard Creek Community Day set for Saturday April 29th, 2017 was cancelled due to weather and volunteer safety concerns. While we were unable to reschedule the community-wide event, Urbana has scheduled a smaller-scale cleanup for Saturday August 5th from 9am to Noon.

Our plan will be to clean the Boneyard Creek from Mathews Street on campus downstream to University Avenue in front of Carters Furniture. The creek should be low enough that boots would work for much of the creek stretch. Or if you want to steer clear of mud and wet feet, you could also help by installing "Drains to Creek" medallions on storm drains.

We will meet at Boneyard Creek Crossing Park at Griggs & Race Streets at 9am and break out into work groups from there.

IDOT Public Information Meeting

Submitted by admin on June 5, 2017 - 3:21pm

Date:

June 8, 2017 - 4:00pm to 7:00pm

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will hold an Open House Public Information Meeting in Urbana on Thursday, June 8, 2017 to discuss safety improvements to US 150 (University Ave.) from Wright St. to Cunningham Ave. in Urbana. This project is included in the current IDOT Multi-Year Program.

The Public Information Meeting will be held at the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District building at 1101 East University Ave. in Urbana. Those interested are invited to attend any time from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Representatives from IDOT will be present to provide information, receive input, answer questions and take written or oral statements regarding this project. There will not be a formal presentation.

Proposed safety improvements consist of resurfacing US 150 on Wright St. from north of White St. to University Ave. and on University Ave. from Wright St. to Maple St. Other improvements will include ADA sidewalk and ramp improvements, LED street lighting, traffic signal modernization with flashing yellow arrow, recessed pavement markings, and new curb and gutter.

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