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On this week's episode of Out and About, Mae Gilliland of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois talks with Amy McCoy, executive director of the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce, about the 2026 Pekin Marigold Festival, taking place Sept. 9 through the 13. The event began as an art show over half a century ago, and today Art in the Park continues that creative tradition with more than 230 vendors offering handmade and homemade work ranging from painting and writing to woodworking and other crafts.

On this week’s episode of Out and About, Mae Gilliland of ArtsPartners of Central Illinois talks with Kathryn McBride of Peoria Public Library about the 25th anniversary of Peoria Reads and its Oct. 10 Block Party at Columbia Park. Inspired by this year’s selection, Angeline Boulley’s book "Warrior Girl Unearthed," the free and family-friendly celebration brings the book’s exploration of Indigenous history, identity, and culture into the community through speakers, food demonstrations and tastings, artists, vendors, food trucks and activities for all ages.

On this week’s Out and About, artist Lisa Nelson Raabe joins host Dr. Mae Gilliland Wright to talk about her exhibit “The Plot Thickens.”

On this week’s episode of Out and About, theater director and long-time Peorian Eddie Urish joins host Dr. Mae Gilliland Wright to talk about the upcoming production of “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” at Illinois Central College.

On this week's episode of Out and About, host Jenn Gordon is joined by Rebekah Dentino and LaCora Holesome to talk about Corn Stock Theatre’s production of When We Were Young and Unafraid, a play written by Sarah Treem. In the early 1970s, before Roe v. Wade, before the Violence Against Women Act, Agnes has turned her quiet bed and breakfast into one of the few spots where victims of domestic violence can seek refuge. As the drums of a feminist revolution grow louder outside of Agnes’s tiny world, Agnes is forced to confront her own presumptions about the women she’s spent her life trying to help. Show dates are March 18, 19, 25, and 26 at 7:30pm and March 20 and 27 at 2:30pm at Corn Stock Theatre Center in Upper Bradley Park. For tickets and more information visit Corn Stock Theatre.

On this week’s episode of Out and About, host Jenn Gordon is joined by Travis Olson to talk about Peoria Players current production, The SpongeBob Musical. Unabashedly optimistic and surprisingly inspirational, the show is based on the beloved animated series created by Stephen Hillenburg, and includes original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, They Might Be Giants, David Bowie and many more. The show runs February 4 - 6 and February 9 - 12 at Peoria Players Theatre. For tickets and more information visit Peoria Players Theatre.

On this week’s episode of Out and About, host Jenn Gordon is joined by Chip Joyce to talk about the Peoria Players Theatre’s production of the musical “Sweet Charity.” With music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon, Sweet Charity is a tender, poignant and consistently funny look at the adventures, or rather, misadventures in the ways of love encountered by the gullible and guileless lady known as Charity Hope Valentine - "the lady of the evening" who always gives her heart, and her earnings, to the wrong man. “Hey Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now” and “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This” are just some of the well-known songs from this classic. The musical opens at Peoria Players Theatre tonight and continues with weekend performances through April 3. For tickets and information visit Peoria Players Theatre.

On this week’s episode of Out and About, Kerri Rae Ryan and Taylor Porter join host Jenn Gordon to talk about Corn Stock Theatre’s production of These Shining Lives. In this drama centering around Catherine Donahue and her three coworkers, the new financial independence of women working in the post-war 1920s is both liberating and exciting. The women earn a comfortable living, painting watch faces using a radium compound that glows in the dark. This new vision of freedom is shattered when one by one the women begin to fall ill to mysterious ailments. They discover the source of their sickness is the radioactive paint used for the watches, and decide to seek retribution in the form of a class-action lawsuit against their employer, Radium Dial Company. Though the women are doomed to die, their struggle to fix what is broken demonstrates the power of the female spirit, despite the curbing of women’s newly won social freedoms during the Great Depression. Corn Stock Theatre's production of These Shining Lives opens on January 14, at the Theatre Center at Upper Bradley Park and runs for two weekends.For tickets and more information visit Corn Stock Theatre.

On this week’s episode of Out and About, Artistic Director and Conductor David Commanday joins Jenn Gordon to talk about the Heartland Festival Orchestra’s upcoming concert ‘A Heartland Homecoming’. The concert takes place on Saturday, February 5 at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Peoria. The homegrown vocal stars return to their home state of Illinois to celebrate the spirit and warm the heart. Jodi Benson, original voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid and Victor Solomon, 2021 Finalist on NBC's “The Voice” join the HFO for an evening ranging from Disney favorites to traditional spirituals and crossover gospel.For tickets and information visit Heartland Festival Orchestra.

On this week’s episode of Out and About, host Jenn Gordon of Arts Partners is joined by jazz icon Chuck Israels and Heartland Festival Orchestra Artistic Director David Commanday to talk about the HFO’s upcoming concert “Iconic Jazz.”The concert is happening on Saturday, March 19 at Five Points in Washington. Chuck Israels found early fame as a bassist in the Bill Evans Trio in the 1960's, going on to collaborate with some of the greatest jazz artists of all time; including Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, and many others. Chuck and his jazz trio will perform his own charts and arrangements on stage with the HFO Jazz Ensemble. For tickets and more information visit Heartland Festival Orchestra.