Despite this summer’s drought conditions, the eleventh annual Cornfest in downtown DeKalb August 26 through 28 again will celebrate the area’s agricultural claim to fame.

This year’s festival will be expanded in size and organizers hope to attract 200,000 people to the three-day event said Pat LaVigne, 1988 Cornfest chairman. Last year’s crowd totaled about 100,000 to 150,000 persons.

As in previous years, Del Monte Corp. will donate the corn for the free corn boil adjacent to Lincoln Highway at the Third and Grove Streets parking lot. LaVigne said workers served about 35,000 ears of corn last year.

Attractions of this year’s Cornfest include a carnival, souvenir booths, food vendors, a street dance and the crowning of the king and queen of Cornfest. Other features will be a 10k run, a 2K walk, a diaper derby and toddler trot, a soundstage with live entertainment, and historical tours, LaVigne said.

In an attempt to alleviate parking problems, a shuttle bus will depart from at Clinton Rosette Middle School, 650 N. First St., every twenty minutes. The bus will take people to the festival downtown and to DeKalb High School before returning to the middle school.