Elgin’s Love on the Lawn Festival Returns With Mýa, Six House Djs and a Boricua Fest Partnership as Founders Celebrate Five Years of Hometown Growth
ELGIN, IL — Elgin’s Love on the Lawn Festival is back this Saturday with music, food and a community-first pitch that organizers say has grown from a small idea into a citywide gathering. Founders Mike Page and Tyrell Thornton said the event is now in its fifth year and has become a place where families, neighbors and longtime residents can share the same lawn.
Last year, Elgin Mayor David Kaptain proclaimed the festival an Elgin holiday, a sign of how much the celebration has taken hold locally. This year’s edition is expanding again through a collaboration with Boricua Fest, giving the already busy lineup an even bigger footprint and more reasons for people to make the trip to Page’s hometown.
From college basketball to a music partnership
Page and Thornton said their relationship goes back to Kirkwood Community College in Iowa, where both were originally there to play basketball. After leaving the sport behind, they turned toward music, with Thornton making Page’s first beat and the pair soon building a creative partnership that has lasted for years.
They said they started performing and hosting shows while still in college, even if the first attempt did not make money. That early setback did not stop them. Instead, it pushed them deeper into music, first in Iowa and eventually into a festival model that blends performance, neighborhood energy and a sense of shared history. Page said the goal was always larger than one event; it was to build something that would last.
For Page, seeing people travel in for the festival matters because it shows the idea has taken root. He said the crowd spans children, adults and elders, and that mix is part of what makes the event feel more like a community tradition than a concert series.
A festival built to feel like family
The organizers say affordability is part of the festival’s identity, and they describe it as one of the most budget-friendly festivals in Illinois. That approach is meant to make it easier for entire families to come together, rather than forcing people to choose between bringing one guest or skipping the event altogether.
Page also said the festival is meant to bring something home to Elgin’s older residents, who often have to travel to Chicago for larger entertainment offerings. Instead of making them go elsewhere, he wants the music and community energy to come to them. He pointed to the cultural pull of events like the Bud Billiken Parade, then framed Love on the Lawn as a local version of that feeling, rooted in Elgin.
This year’s celebration also highlights community pillars, including Page’s grandfather, Dave Covington, along with Margaret Spivey and Ernest Broadnax, all of whom are 90 years old. Page said Broadnax deserves recognition for helping pave the way, noting that he was the first Black basketball player at ECC College.
Mýa leads a lineup meant to stretch across generations
Thornton said the music program will run all day, beginning with six house DJs starting around 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. before Mýa takes the stage later in the day. He said her set will bring a different energy to the event, softening the pace after the DJs and giving the crowd an early-2000s and late-1990s feel.
That mix is part of the festival’s appeal: local roots, recognizable names and a format that tries to welcome people from across generations. Page said that is why some people call it a giant family reunion. For him, the festival works best when children, parents and grandparents can all be there together, sharing the same space without having to travel far from home.
As the event enters its fifth year, the founders say the real accomplishment is not just growth but staying connected to Elgin while the festival gets bigger. They believe the combination of music, food and community is what will keep Love on the Lawn in place for years to come.
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