This year, there will be two major changes in our Chautauqua, due to its growing success.  First, we are making it a two-day event, with the programs occurring on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  The second change is we are moving it to August.  The third annual Bishop Hill Chautauqua will be performed in the village park on August 29 and August 30.

This year’s theme is “Lincoln and the Civil War.”  Some of the historical figures who will be appearing are William Herndon (Lincoln’s law partner), Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (Mrs. Lincoln’s seamstress), and President Lincoln himself.  This year’s re-enactors include Brian “Fox” Ellis, Barry Cloyd, Fritz Klein, and Kathryn Harris.  This free, public event will once again be sponsored by the BHHA, the Twinflower Inn, and the Illinois Humanities Council.