In addition to our year-round activities, Nauvoo is the location for many wonderful events and festivals your whole family will enjoy. Many of these events have become regional traditions and attract people from around the world.
Memorial services will be held on the anniversary of the June 27, 1844, assassinations of Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum. Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was a Nauvoo founder and early mayor. Services will be held at the Smith family cemetery in Nauvoo on the corner of Water and Main Streets and later in Carthage at the Historic Carthage Jail Visitors Center, 310 Buchanan Street.
More Details to Follow
Nauvoo will host the 6th Annual Cruisin’ for the Kids Cruise Night in Nauvoo. This event is free and open to all ages with a special area for those under 21 years of age and includes an optional cruise through town, specialty awards, and prize giveaways. The cruise night is open to all makes, models, and all age groups.
This event is to help promote the sport of hot rodding and the Festival on Wheels / Tom Ciolek Memorial Scholarship that is available to an area senior heading into an accredited automotive program after high school.
Nauvoo will be hosting a band concert and fireworks display on Saturday, July 7, 2018, at approximately 9:30 p.m.
You'll love the 4th of July in the Nauvoo region. There are many firework displays that can be seen up and down the Mighty Mississippi and Hancock County's celebration is in Carthage, Illinois - just 25 minutes from Nauvoo!
The Nauvoo Pageant fills the summer evenings of Nauvoo with authentic hymns and folksongs, lively dances and tender moments that share the joy and tell the stories the early days of Nauvoo. Inspired by journals, sermons and historic records of the period, the pageant is a fun and enjoyable performance with a great story to tell. The pageant is held July 10th - August 4th, with performances nearly every night.
Learn more about the Nauvoo and British Pageant and other activities.
The Nauvoo Grape Festival is an annual celebration held the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day Weekend in the Nauvoo State Park and surrounding areas of Nauvoo. This long-running festival is packed with activities including competitive events, parades, live entertainment and more! The weekend also features the Festival on Wheels Car Show, one of the region's largest open air car shows.
Learn More! See the Festival Calendar!
Nauvoo is host to one of the largest and most impressive car shows in the region. The Festival on Wheels Car Show is an open-air showcase of classic cars from all stages of automobile history. Come see this amazing collection of cars and stay for great food & live music.
Learn More! See the Festival Calendar!
On Saturday, September 29, Nauvoo will host the second annual Scarecrow Stroll. At 2 p.m. a ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on the lawn of Hotel Nauvoo, 1290 Mulholland Street. The Scarecrow Stroll event will take place from 2 pm. to 4 p.m. along the Mulholland Street business district. Over twenty-five scarecrows will be on display and will be joined by Minions and “Strolling Scarecrows.” Following the stroll event, the scarecrows will remain on display through the annual “Boo-ti-ful” Nauvoo Pumpkin Walk, which will be held on October 27, 2018.
In the case of inclement weather on September 29, 2018, the event will be postponed to October 6, 2018.
The second annual Scarecrow Festival is sponsored by the Nauvoo Betterment Association, a group dedicated to promoting and encouraging improvements to the quality of life in Nauvoo.
Run to Nauvoo and enjoy the fall leaves & Mississippi River scenery while you help the Hancock County Food Bank in the Great River Road Run. This annual half marathon event benefits the Hancock County Food Bank and is a great way to see more of Nauvoo. The 2018 event will be held on October 13, 2018. Check with Nauvoo Hotels & Lodging for special lodging packages.
Learn More! Register Online!
The city of Nauvoo is again coming alive in the Halloween Spirit hosting its annual Pumpkin Walk on Saturday, October 27, 2017. This year’s event will again feature hundreds of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns that will be lit and displayed along Mulholland Street. Many of the Nauvoo merchants will operate on extended hours with specials, treats and entertainment throughout the day. The 2018 event organizers have made several logistical changes to the event in order to ease some of the traffic congestion of the event. There will be two shuttles to and from designated parking areas as well as a centralized food court. New this year, is a pumpkin chucker!
2017 Boo-ti-ful Nauvoo Event Schedule
2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pumpkin Chucking Cannon will shoot every 30 minutes from the hillside west of Wells Street
2:30 p.m. Tim Burton's “Corpse Bride” showing at the Kraus’ Theater located inside Grandpa John’s Café. Sponsored by the Nauvoo Public Library & Grandpa John’s Café
5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Food vendors set up at various locations along Mulholland Street and on N. Barnett Street
5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Haunted House at the former N-C Elementary School (enter through Motley Fitness)
Dusk to 9 p.m. Over 500 hand-carved jack-o-lanterns on display along Mulholland Street
6 p.m. Halloween Parade begins at N-C Elementary School and ends in the Nauvoo City Park - come in costume and join in the fun!!
6:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. Haunted Virtual Forest at the former M&K parking lot (Mulholland and Robinson Street)
6:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fortune telling - various locations in the 1200 block of Mulholland
6:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. Face painting in the former Nauvoo Market building
The Nauvoo Christmas Walk will be held December 7th and 8th with a tree lighting and concert by the Warsaw High School Jazz Band followed by an open house with wagon rides, caroling, and refreshments on Friday, December 7. On Saturday, December 8, the Nauvoo Fire Protection District will host its annual soup supper followed by the Nauvoo Orchestra's sing-along performance of "The Messiah" at 7 p.m. at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.
The City of Nauvoo, Nauvoo Tourism Office, Joseph Smith Historic Site and Historic Nauvoo sponsor an annual gathering to celebrate the full gamut of Nauvoo’s legacy - its Native American peoples, its origins as a river town, its role in the Latter-day Saints’ history, its place in the utopian Icarian movement, its appeal to German immigrants, its contribution to the Sisters of St. Benedict ministry, its significance in Midwest viticulture, its reflection of trends in American agriculture, and its rebirth as a point of heritage tourism. This gathering is a venue for sharing stories that have not yet entered into the standard narrative of the histories of Hancock and Lee counties. The 9th Annual Untold Nauvoo Stories symposium will be held February 1-2 at various locations throughout Nauvoo.
Click here to view the Symposium schedule. Click here for additional events. If you plan to attend the 2019 event, please complete the registration form below.
There is a $35 registration fee which includes the Friday evening banquet. If you are not able to attend the dinner on Friday, the sessions-only registration fee is $20.
If you only want to attend the dinner on Friday, the cost is $25. The deadline for reserving a place at the Friday evening banquet is January 28, 2019 You may pay at the registration table at the Symposium or mail your payment to: Nauvoo Tourism Office, P.O. Box 85, Nauvoo, IL 62354. Please make checks payable to Nauvoo Area Chamber of Commerce.
If you are not able to participate in this event but would like to receive email notices of future gatherings, we invite you to complete a registration form.
Join with others to honor the Pioneers who left Nauvoo in the winter of 1846. There will be a light breakfast at the Family Living Center and then a walk down Parley Street with members of the Nauvoo Legion. There will be a brief program at the end of Parley Street. Click here for more information
