Max Tolsky and Genny Kriwulczenko came from Buffalo Grove. They stumbled upon Corn Fest while looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon and heard an advertisement on the radio.

They were impressed by the size of the festival and happy they made the trip to the “country” to experience the perks Corn Fest had to offer.

“When I think back to our experience today, I will remember the corn. The corn is delicious,” Tolsky said. “It is a really fun festival and a good way to spend a summer afternoon. We will come back next year, on Saturday though, for the free corn.”

Aside from corn, Corn Fest offered contests, vendors and entertainment.

More than 100 vendors lined Lincoln Highway during the festival and offered a variety of food.

“The vendors were very happy with the turnout,” said Corn Fest board member Alice Freier.

The DeKalb Corn Fest also means music and this year’s festival had no shortage of concerts.

“Saturday we had standing room only for Hi-Fidelity and [on Sunday] Night Ranger was responded to very well also,” Freier said.

She said the Corn Fest board was pleased to see such a high turnout for Sunday’s events considering the free corn boil, one of the festival’s most popular attractions, took place on Saturday.

Other events dotted the cityscape of downtown DeKalb during the annual festival.

The children’s corn creation proved a popular event.

“Many children came out and decorated the corn,” said Freier of the corn creation contest, held at Eduardo’s Mexican Restaurant, 214 E. Lincoln Highway.

The free contest featured three different events, two for children and one for adults.

“[Children] decorated a wide variety of foods from cakes to corn dogs,” Freier said.

The adult contest involved the creation of a corn-based hot or cold dish, she said. It also had a very good turnout.

Automotive based events went off without a hitch, as near perfect weather conditions dominated the weekend.

The bike rally had a large turnout, said Freier. Hundreds of people turned out for the car show.

People from near and far came to DeKalb’s annual Corn Fest.

“I have been coming here for the past three years, and this year it seems like there are more people,” said Tim Maxwell, a physics graduate student at NIU.

“I come for the corn, of course, but the pork chops on a stick are my favorite and are just way too good to pass up.”

Freier confirmed this year’s event had a much higher turnout than last year’s festival, although no concrete estimates were available at press time.

“There has definitely been an increase over last year,” she said. “Last year we had a lot of rain during Corn Fest.”

Much of the money made during Corn Fest returns to the DeKalb community.

Any profits from the corn the Kiwanis made is given back to the community in addition to profits from the Knights of Columbus beer garden, Freier said.

Metro Editor Andy McMurray contributed to this report.