The tents from Irish Days came down two weeks ago. The banners for Apple Fest haven't gone up on Old McHenry Road yet, but they will any day now, because the 33rd annual festival lands the last weekend of September. If you've lived in Long Grove longer than a season, you already know this rhythm by heart. Irish Days in early September, Apple Fest a few weeks later, Witches' Night Out and October Days once the leaves turn. The calendar barely moves year to year, and that's part of the point of a historic district that has spent decades protecting how it looks.

But the festival schedule isn't where this year's real change happened. It happened behind two doors on Robert Parker Coffin Road and Old McHenry Road, where new businesses arrived this year under owners who already belonged to this village before they ever signed a lease, as the Daily Herald reported. Ryan Messner, president of the Historic Downtown Business Association, described the pull of the place in Northwest Quarterly this spring: "Long Grove takes you back in time with its small-town village charm, where people aren't rushing around." That line explains the festivals. It doesn't explain what's new.

Two Doors: One New, One Reopened

In May, Artistic Creations of Long Grove at 405 Robert Parker Coffin Road and The Olive Tap at 302 Old McHenry Road held a joint grand opening, the kind of Sunday event that draws the block out to look. Both are worth knowing about, and not for the reasons a typical "new shops downtown" roundup would give you.

Ellen Glassman spent nearly 40 years as a senior consultant and project manager at Allstate before she opened Artistic Creations, a shop for handmade photography, jewelry, ceramics, blown glass, candles, and wall art from artists in Buffalo Grove, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Mundelein, and nearby towns. She wasn't hunting for a storefront. She noticed the space on her way to a Pilates class; the Daily Herald quoted her saying, "it called my name." She was also, by her own account in the report, looking for purpose after the death of her husband, Marty. It's a resident filling a gap she happened to walk past.

The Olive Tap has a longer memory attached to it. The shop first opened in Long Grove back in 2006, moved to a bigger space across the street at some point after, and closed around 2021 when its original owners relocated to Colorado. Kelly Petrocelli, who lives in Long Grove, worked at that original store and later at the Colorado locations. The people who ran it were her best friend's parents. When she reopened The Olive Tap this past February, she wasn't introducing Long Grove to olive oil and balsamic vinegar tastings. She was bringing back something the village had already lost once. The Daily Herald quoted her: "Everybody's so excited that we're back." The report also quoted her saying, "I've had so much support from the community."

That's the detail a passing visitor wouldn't catch from the sidewalk, but it's the one that matters if you actually live here. Both of this year's headline storefront openings involve people already connected to the village, filling spaces that had gone quiet, with their own names on the lease.

The Calendar, As It Actually Stands Right Now

Here's where things sit as of this week, since the festival dates tend to get repeated as if they're static when a few are still in flux:

The Historic Downtown Long Grove Business Association organizes all four, and the two October events typically post details closer to the date. If you're planning around them, that's worth checking back on rather than relying on last year's dates.

The Rest of Downtown Is Holding Its Ground, Too

Two storefronts changing hands doesn't sound like much against a downtown that the Village itself counts at roughly 120 businesses. It isn't the volume that makes this year different. It's what those two openings say about the direction things are moving, and there's a second data point that backs it up.

Sorelle Italian Market and Cafe, which has been open in the village for a while now, has added a weekly live music night on Wednesdays. Alongside two locals putting their names on empty storefronts, that programming points to a broader pattern downtown this year: local investment and ongoing activity.

That's a different story than the one most "downtown is changing" pieces tell about small towns near Chicago. It's not gentrification and it's not decline. It's closer to a village getting some of its own back.

Where to Walk It Off Before the Next Festival Hits

If the thought of Old McHenry Road packed for Apple Fest already has you looking for a quieter afternoon, Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve is the same corner of Lake County without the crowds. The preserve spans roughly 408 acres with 5.5 miles of crushed gravel trail, looping past a reservoir that was originally built for flood control and now draws enough waterfowl to make it worth bringing binoculars. The main entrance sits off Checker Road, and dogs are welcome on leash, which makes it an easy stop either before the festival traffic builds or the week after, once the tents and vendor tables are gone and Old McHenry Road goes quiet again.

It's an odd contrast to sit with: a village that draws thousands of outside visitors for three or four weekends a year, wrapped around trails that most of the people driving in for Apple Fest will never see.

What This Actually Adds Up To

The festivals are the part of Long Grove that outsiders notice, and they're not wrong to notice them. But if you live here, the more interesting story this year is quieter than a carnival ride and harder to put on a banner. It's two people who already belonged to this community deciding to put their names on two empty storefronts, and a third business adding weekly programming. That's not the kind of change you can see from the road during Apple Fest weekend. You have to already live here to notice it happened at all.

If watching a village like this hold onto its own has ever made you wonder what it would take to actually plant roots here, Maria Devins has spent her career working in towns exactly like this one across the northwest suburbs. Reach out for her Instant Home Valuation whenever you're ready to see what your own piece of it might be worth.