Peoria's RiverFront Market offers the best of Peoria all summer long!  Find Illinois-grown produce, local foods, arts, crafts, music, and community!  Every Saturday 8 - Noon in the 200 block of Water Street.  For the latest info, follow our Facebook Page 

Unless noted otherwise, all tours take place on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and depart from (and return to) the parking lot
across from Kelleher’s Irish Pub and Eatery (619 SW Water Street). Bus tours cost $20 per person and reservations are required.
Visit 309tix.com to reserve a spot.

For more info & to purchase tickets: https://peoriahistoricalsociety.org/history-bus-tours/

Saturday, June 7 Roll Out the Barrel
Saturday, June 14 It Happened in the Heights*
Saturday, June 21 Peoria’s Whiskey Barons (includes visit to Pettengill-Morron House)
Saturday, June 28 Mid-Century Modern Architecture
Saturday, July 5 Notable Peoria Women
Saturday, July 12 World’s Most Beautiful Drive*
Saturday, July 19 Lincoln, Abolitionists, and the Civil War
Saturday, July 26 West Peoria and the Uplands
Saturday, August 2 Warehouse Renaissance
Saturday, August 9 World’s Most Beautiful Drive*
Saturday, August 16 The Parks of Peoria
Saturday, August 23 Naughty to Nice
Saturday, August 30 Roots of the River City
Saturday, September 6 Roll Out the Barrel
Saturday, September 13 Historic Springdale*
Saturday, September 20 Grand Victorian (Randolph, Roanoke, Glen Oak) (includes visit to Flanagan House)
Saturday, September 27 Theaters of Peoria
Saturday, October 4 West Peoria and the Uplands
Saturday, October 11 Haunted Peoria
Saturday, October 18 Haunted Peoria**
Saturday, October 25 Haunted Peoria**
* Departs from Peoria Heights City Hall parking lot (4901 N. Prospect) at 10 a.m.
** Departs from Kelleher’s parking lot at 3 p.m. and returns at 5 p.m.
Peoria Historical Society is happy to offer custom and private tours for corporate groups, annual meetings, family reunions, and more.

 

For more than 30 years, PHS bus tours have enabled participants to enjoy “history on the move” with knowledgeable guides providing historical facts and engaging stories behind some of Peoria’s most noteworthy sites. We offer 20+ tours, including “Roots of the River City,” which offers an overview of local history from Native American times to present day. “Historic Springdale Cemetery” explores the oldest chartered cemetery in Illinois and shares stories of famous Peorians buried there. “Roll Out the Barrel” tours the Warehouse District with a focus on the prosperous days when Peoria was known as the “Whiskey Capital of the World.”
“Notable Peoria Women” looks at some local women who made indelible marks in the fields of education, business, and medicine. “Naughty to Nice” recalls the city during Prohibition days, the Roaring 1920s, and the 1930s, when the city’s reputation involved crime, gangsters, and gambling. And “Haunted Peoria” shares a collection of eerie appearances and spooky sightings that have puzzled Peorians for decades.

Abe Lincoln
Learn about Lincoln’s many visits to Peoria, the Civil War camps located here and the veterans’ final resting places in Springdale Cemetery. Hear stories about Peoria’s abolitionist movement and view the GAR Hall, built in 1909.

Roll Out the Barrel Tour
Peoria once featured a riverfront lined with breweries and distilleries. Taxes collected ranked it as the Whiskey Capital of the World.
From 1850 to Prohibition, the volume of whiskey distilled, aged, and bottled in Peoria led to great fortunes being made and the birth of equally prosperous secondary industries. Discover why Peoria was the perfect place for all of these industries to be developed.

Naughty to Nice Tour
This tour traces triumphs through time from the 1920’s to the present.  Tales of gambling and mobsters, including the site of Peoria’s most notorious crime – the Bernie Shelton murder, provide a fascinating look into this era.  Also, discover why Peoria has won the prestigious All-America City Award four times.
Note: This tour is not appropriate for children.

Warehouse Renaissance Tour
Once a dusty collection of aging warehouses, the Warehouse District is now changing rapidly. New residential units, restaurants and retail make this area vibrant. The early history of the area and the factors that led to new development will be shared.

Roots of the River City Tour
The Native Americans, the French, the whiskey and earthmoving capital of the world and the grand mansions – the River City Tour has it all.  You will view the stately homes along High Street, Moss Avenue, Glen Oak, and Grandview Drive. Enjoy the beautiful view of the Illinois River during this tour.

Haunted Peoria Tour
Explore the darker side of Peoria!  Discover the stories behind the ghostly appearances that have startled and puzzled Peorians through the years.  Curses, graves, legends and spooky sightings abound.  

Historic Springdale Tour
Historic Springdale Cemetery has many fascinating stories.  Explore the oldest chartered cemetery in the state of Illinois and enjoy the beautiful park-like setting as you hear stories of those who have their final resting place there.

World’s Most Beautiful Drive Tour
This tour will focus on the history of the beautiful and gracious homes of Grandview Drive. In addition, we will look at some of the LeTourneau all-steel homes located in Peoria Heights.   The history of transportation industries and the former Pabst Brewery in this small community are also addressed.

Notable Peoria Women Tour
Peoria has a rich history of fascinating women who have made their mark on the city and the world.  You will learn about three Peoria women inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, as well as discovering other women who impacted education, business, medicine, and the lives of those less fortunate.

West Peoria and the Uplands

View the oldest planned neighborhood in Peoria and learn more about West Bluff cemeteries, the Western Avenue Greenway Project and the proud residents of this area.

Learn the basics of setting up a pottery wheel to throw, the proper tools needed, how to prepare the clay through a process called "wedging," centering, throwing on the wheel and how to clean up.

We give a demonstration of how to throw a pot. Next, we let you try by yourself for a short period of time. Then we give assistance, as needed, to create your own piece which can literally exist forever (unless it is heated to 2500 Fahrenheit:). You get to choose the glaze color of your piece.

Materials and firing is covered in the cost for one piece (approximate maximum size-up to 6" tall x 6" width x 6" length).
Everyone keeps one piece. Prices start at $25 for basic forms. 

Additional pieces of equivalent size are $5 (covers material and firing costs). These are paid for after the pottery session, if you create more than 1 piece you wish to keep.

Specialty Items are also available for additional cost. These require additional time, material, and firing.

Pieces are kept at the studio for finish work, glazing and two kiln firings, and are picked up at a later date. When finished, everything is food-safe, dishwasher-safe, microwave-safe.

Ages 5+
No experience necessary
Pre-registration and pre-payment required.

To register, please fill out and return this form: https://www.wheelartpottery.studio/events/wheel-101-class

Please don't forget to like and share our page, as we have recently had to start a new page from scratch due to hackers.

Thanks and hope Wheel see you soon!

GERMAN AMERICAN CENTRAL SOCIETY AND PEORIA PARK DISTRICT PRESENT
PEORIA OKTOBERFEST

ON THE PEORIA RIVERFRONT

FRI, SEPT 19 - SUN, SEPT 21, 2025
PEORIA RIVERFRONT, PEORIA, ILLINOIS

 

FRI, SEPT 20: 5 PM - 11 PM

SAT, SEPT 21: 12 PM - 11 PM

SUN, SEPT 22: 11 AM - 5 PM

All tickets are general admission. Ticket prices will increase by $3 on the day of the event (except on Sunday). Children 12 and under receive free admission.

**Weekend packages are only available in advance through Thurs, Sept 18**

 

ADVANCE TICKETS (ONLINE ALL-IN PRICING / INCLUDES FEES): $10.00 FRI AND SAT / $7.00 SUN -  $18.00 WEEKEND PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE 
ADVANCE TICKETS (PURCHASE IN-PERSON @ NOBLE CENTER): $9 FRI AND SAT / $6 SUN -  $15 WEEKEND PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE 

Willkommen to Central Illinois’ Biggest and Best Fest! This year’s festival has all your favorites with a few new things to put some guten in your tag!

The Peoria Park District and German-American Central Society united their efforts in 1996 to bring the first of the “signature events” planned for the RiverFront. Peoria’s Oktoberfest” is the Midwestern equivalent of the Munich Oktoberfest. This three-day event showcases German heritage through song, dance, food, drink, cultural exhibits and much more. Do not miss the talented German bands and musicians on multiple stages, vendors and much more! Put on your authentic German attire and head down to the RiverFront for a true cultural experience. 

Get more information at www.oktoberfestpeoria.com.

COMBINED ART RECEPTION
Saturday, September 20, 2025, 6:30- 8:30 pm 

free admission / donation requested; complimentary snacks & drinks, music by Harry Tonchev Trio. Each of the exhibiting artists will be in attendance. Monica J. Brown will talk about her exhibited work. Meet the exhibiting artists and view their artwork in three galleries and the 3rd floor classroom.

FEATURING TWO ART EXHIBITIONS:

LIMINALITY: THE SACRED SPACE 
August 29-October 17, 2025 Preston Jackson Gallery, 2nd Floor
Monica J. Brown’s paintings weave pop art, Afro-surrealism and abstraction, exploring themes of ancestry, memory and personal biomythography. Natalie Jackson’s digital assemblages layer imagery, texture and emotions to create an ambiguous, visual narrative. Together, these artists lead us through a rite of passage in restructuring our identity.

BETWEEN A SWORD AND A WALL 
August 29-October 17, 2025 Gallery 3R, 3rd Floor 
Documenting the migrant crisis as he traveled with caravans through Mexico to Tijuana led photographer Cory Zimmerman to the highlands of Guatemala to capture the unimaginable poverty, discrimination and genocide driving the Maya people’s mass displacement. Originally from Peoria, Zimmerman resides in Mexico City. 

Art exhibits may also be viewed for no admission during business hours (Tuesday-Saturday 11-5:00) and prior to the start of and during some evening events.

The Contemporary Art Center is located at 305 SW Water Street, Peoria, IL 61602. Call or text 309-674-6822 or contact us with questions for more information.

For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1299827388423867

Every Saturday night, join us for some great music along with drink & food specials! 

Like our Facebook page to see who's playing each week!

https://www.facebook.com/TheNeonBison

Live music every Saturday night! Check out our website to see who is playing! Bring your friends and come unwind on the weekend. Martini specials all week!

 

http://www.martinisonwater.com/?page_id=27