Events And Education
Friends of Danada has long been involved in the Danada Fall Festival, an annual fall open house celebrating horses and nature each October. Typically, the second Sunday of Oct Since its inception in 1983, the Fall Festival grew to attract up to 10,000 visitors for a day of equestrian shows, horse-drawn hayrides, farm tours, kids’ activities, an art and photo show, and more.
The Forest Preserve currently runs the event with support from Friends of Danada. FOD provides free tractor-drawn hayride tours to the model farm during the festival to learn about the crops, planting, harvesting, and more. Volunteers and staff also offer history tours of the mansion. You’ll learn about Dan and Ada Rice’s story and see trophies from the races, even screening old films of Lucky Debonair’s Derby win. (The Fall Festival has seen interruptions only rarely, for instance, it was paused in 2020-2021 due to COVID, and in 2024 it was reportedly canceled due to renovation work at Danada House, but it returned in 2022 and expanded to a two-day format to meet public demand.
Beyond the big festival, FOD offers programs throughout the year. The Danada Nature Art and Photo Show was a standalone event each autumn, inviting artists and photographers from across the Midwest to exhibit nature-themed works (often horse or farm inspired). This juried show has now been moved annually to early spring so that artists can showcase their works after a long winter of working on their pieces.
Danada Fall Festival
Friends of Danada is a major participant in the annual Fall Festival which has become a showcase for the Danada Forest Preserve and attracts as many as 10,000 visitors on the second Sunday in October of each year. The festival consists of equestrian shows with riders in costume, horse drawn hay rides, visits to the Danada Model Farm via tractor-drawn wagon rides, activities for the children, food and entertainment.
The Danada Fall Festival was organized by the Forest Preserve District and the “Save the Rice Farm” group in 1983. It was revived by the volunteers in 1984 and has been held annually ever since.
Initially Friends of Danada had been the primary sponsor of the event, with annually increasing participation by the Forest Preserve District. Today, the District assumes primary responsibility for the event, with Friends of Danada acting as a support group. The Friends of Danada have always considered this to be an event for the benefit of the community and currently sponsors family friendly events at little or no cost to participants.
Friends of Danada offers free tractor-pulled wagon rides to the Danada Model Farm where visitors learn of the importance of agriculture and can see crops harvested. History tours will now take the place instead of the Danada Nature Art and Photo Show which has now been moved to the spring. Over 100 pieces of art and photos will be on display from community artists.
During the Fall Festival the Friends of Danada will now host history tours of the mansion and an exhibit featuring the history of Dan and Ada Rice and the Ada L. Rice Racing Stables. Numerous posters, photos, artifacts, awards and trophies are available for viewing. Also shown are short videos of the history of the Rices’ and their estate as well as the running of the 1965 Kentucky Derby which was won by the Rice’s horse, Lucky Debonair.
Danada Nature Art And Photo Show
The annual Nature Art and Photo Show, previously hosted during the Fall Festival has been moved to the spring of the year attracting artists who have worked over the long winter on their works of art. The show is open to the public and traditionally attracts about 100 to 150 artists and photographers locally and around the Midwest. Rules for entry are described in detail each year and are available by contacting Danada House at 630-668-5392.
