Ellisville Festivals and Events

04/25/2026

Come on down! Serving ham and beans and lots of other treats at the Ellisville Opera House. Lots of shopping and fun activities! Horse rides, goats, angora rabbits and more 🥰

04/23/2026

The Annual Sassafras Festival is this Saturday, April 25! Food and drink proceeds help support H.E.R.O.'s efforts to preserve the historic Opera House and other buildings.

04/04/2026

Mark your calendar for April 18th!

Saturday, April 18th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 p.m.) in the theater of our historic Ellisville Opera House. Singer/songwriter and roots musician Chris Vallillo is continuing his Hickory Ridge Concert series by hosting Low Gap.

Brothers Gus and Phin Johnson are finishing up the final touches of their sophomore album, which will be released in early 2026 and is bound to expand their ever-growing audience to new heights. Gus and Phin, known for their well-crafted songs and animated concerts, have roots planted in Ohio and Eastern Kentucky, which show up clearly in their music.

An external lift is available at the rear of the building for those who have challenges navigating the long and tall staircase. Our chairs are the original hardwood bentwood chairs, so bringing a seat cushion would be a good idea for some! Thanks to a generous patron, we bought 12 padded folding chairs. The patron calls “dibs” on 2 of them!

Tickets are $10.00 per adult and $5.00 for children under 12. Coffee, water, pop, and a variety of delicious locally made pies will be provided by members and supporters of H.E.R.O. via the Lunch Wagon! Enjoy the concession offerings before the show and at intermission. Occasionally, there are whole pies available to purchase after the show!

Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization (H.E.R.O.) acknowledges support in part by Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Humanities Council, Galesburg Community Foundation in addition to other generous supporters.

Hickory Ridge Concerts are supported in part by WIUM 91.3 FM, your source for NPR programming, Two Rivers Arts Council, and the Doris and Ken Kolb Foundation.

03/09/2026

Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 14th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 p.m.)!

Join us Saturday, March 14th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 p.m.) in the theater of our historic Ellisville Opera House. Singer/songwriter and roots musician Chris Vallillo is continuing his Hickory Ridge Concert series by hosting Chris Ferrell. Chris has been rescheduled from December.

For over 40 years, Chris Farrell has been a mainstay of Chicago's famed singer-songwriter scene. Learning his craft while sharing the stage with legendary acts of the '70s and '80s, he has emerged with his own brand of songwriting and showmanship to carry on this proud tradition. Chris' work is the genuine item from those days and has grown with the times to hit a bull's eye with relevance for today.

Chris easily flows from ballads to satire, from comic songs to social commentary while always finding room for the sweet tunes you'll hum on the way home.

Our chairs are the original hardwood bentwood chairs, so bringing a seat cushion would be a good idea for some! Thanks to a generous patron, we bought 12 padded folding chairs. The patron calls “dibs” on 2! Our external lift is available at the rear of the building for those who have challenges to navigate the long and tall staircase.

Tickets are $10.00 per adult and $5.00 for children under 12. Coffee, water, pop, and a variety of delicious locally made pies will be provided by members and supporters of H.E.R.O. via Lunch Wagon! Enjoy the concession offerings before the show and at intermission. Occasionally, there are whole pies available to purchase after the show!

Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization (H.E.R.O.) acknowledges support from Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Humanities Council, Galesburg Community Foundation in addition to other generous supporters.

Hickory Ridge Concerts are supported in part by WIUM 91.3 FM, your source for NPR programming, Two Rivers Arts Council, and the Doris and Ken Kolb Foundation.

12/13/2025

The Hickory Ridge Concert featuring Chris Ferrell is going to be rescheduled due to the forecasted weather. Be safe and stay vertical when you are out and about.

Email from Gin Ridge Music Will reschedule ASAP Hickory Ridge Cancelled for December 13th Greetings!, After consulting with the folks in Ellisville and with our artist, Chris Farrell, we have decided

11/29/2025

Mark your calendar for Saturday, December 13th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 p.m.)!

Join us Saturday, December 13th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 p.m.) in the theater of our historic Ellisville Opera House. Singer, songwriter, and roots musician Chris Vallillo is continuing his Hickory Ridge Concert series by hosting Chris Ferrell.

For over 40 years, Chris Farrell has been a mainstay of Chicago's famed singer-songwriter scene. Learning his craft while sharing the stage with legendary acts of the '70s and '80s, he has emerged with his own brand of songwriting and showmanship to carry on this proud tradition. Chris' work is the genuine item from those days and has grown with the times to hit a bull's eye with relevance for today.

Chris easily flows from ballads to satire, from comic songs to social commentary while always finding room for the sweet tunes you'll hum on the way home.

Our chairs are the original hardwood bentwood chairs, so bringing a seat cushion would be a good idea for some! Thanks to a generous patron, we bought 12 padded folding chairs. The patron calls “dibs” on 2! Our external lift is available at the rear of the building for those who have challenges to navigate the long and tall staircase.

Tickets are $10.00 per adult and $5.00 for children under 12. Coffee, water, pop, and a variety of delicious locally made pies will be provided by members and supporters of H.E.R.O. via Lunch Wagon! Enjoy the concession offerings before the show and at intermission. Occasionally, there are whole pies available to purchase after the show!

Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization (H.E.R.O.) acknowledges support from Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Humanities Council, Galesburg Community Foundation in addition to other generous supporters.

Hickory Ridge Concerts are supported in part by WIUM 91.3 FM, your source for NPR programming, Two Rivers Arts Council, and the Doris and Ken Kolb Foundation.

10/27/2025

Mark your calendar for Saturday, November 15th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 p.m.).

Join us Saturday, November 15th at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 p.m.) in the theater of our historic Ellisville Opera House. Singer/songwriter, and roots musician Chris Vallillo is continuing his Hickory Ridge Concert series and hosting Mustard's Retreat

Mustard’s Retreat’s performances are always joyful and uplifting, as well as intelligent, thought provoking and insightful. The honesty of what they present onstage and the extensive body of outstanding original songs and recordings all contribute to a fiercely loyal audience that continues to grow. “Music to cure what ails you” was how one reviewer in the 1970s described them, and that is as true now as it was then. They’ve traveled more than a million miles and performed more than 6,000 shows, from pig roasts and pool parties to Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Barns at Wolftrap and the Kennedy’s Center’s Millennium Stage.

Our chairs are the original bentwood hardwood chairs, so bringing a seat cushion or rent one from us would be a good idea for some! Thanks to a generous patron, we bought 12 padded folding chairs. The patron calls “dibs” on 2! Our external lift is available at the rear of the building for those who have challenges to navigate the long and tall staircase. This external lift was only possible because of so many people, businesses, and organizations in addition memorials designated to our Lift account at Galesburg Community Foundation. THANK YOU.

Tickets are $10.00 per adult and $5.00 for children under 12. Coffee, water, pop, and a variety of delicious locally made pies will be provided by members and supporters of H.E.R.O. via Lunch Wagon! Enjoy the concession offerings before the show and at intermission. Occasionally, there are whole pies available to purchase after the show!

H.E.R.O.'s current project is raising funds to install AC in the two store fronts in their historic Opera House. Our project this year was roof repair and replacement on two of our buildings and need to recoup the cost for future projects. Support can be sent to Galesburg Community Foundation where we have an account - Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization.

Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization (H.E.R.O.) acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council. Additional support comes from the Illinois Humanities Council, Galesburg Community Foundation, and other generous supporters.

10/10/2025

Maya Doran’s directorial debut is this evening with the first of three performances of Disney’s Jungle Book (Jr. Edition) in the theater in the historic Ellisville Opera House.
Friday and Saturday 7:00 and Sunday matinee at 2:00
Adults $12 and students K thru 12 $6

The first night of tech week is for the tech personnel, and to see if things like animal ears will stay on the kids’ heads. Usually kids leave Monday night a bit subdued but the Jungle Book cast was very enthusiastic this evening… so imagine when they finally are in costumes and makeup!

It’s going to be a great show! Make sure you venture down to the opera house this weekend!

10/07/2025

A budding artist enjoyed drawing with Nicholas Peters who enjoyed watching her draw and gave her pointers.

10/07/2025

Julie, owner of The Hangar 750 Art Studio in Fairview, IL. Julie encourages children to take turns with her teaching this style of painting. I am sorry for stopping the recordings that interrupted the demonstration and conversation.