SammyFest is Here

Think Lollapalooza but with a different name, different location and different bands and you get SammyFest.

What’s SammyFest?

It’s a festival at Sammy’s Bar & Grill that owner Sammy Abdullai named after himself.

“Sammy is a character. The fact he calls it SammyFest is awesome,” said Dave Eakins, of the band Rumor Hazit, which is performing at this weekend’s fest. “Every time we play, on the third set, he’s up there singing and drinking. That’s one of fun things (of playing there).”

Abdullai will be singing his heart out this weekend at the bar, located on 11012 Route 47 in Huntley. The event kicks off at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 28. There will be two bands, food, drinks, giveaways and a bags tourney. The cost is $5 in advance, $7 at the door.

“It’s my day, it’s my party day,” Abdullai said.

SammyFest started three years ago. The first few years went well, he said. But last year, the Route 47 construction led him to cancel it.

Now it’s back.

Two local bands, Castillo and Rumor Hazit, are performing.

Rumor Hazit is a band from South Elgin that plays regularly throughout northern Illinois. The five-member band started playing at Sammy’s after a friend’s bar closed in Algonquin.

Rumor Hazit _ which includes Devona Dawson, Eakins, Keith Colgrove, Joe Buchberger and Alan Hannapel_ performs music from the 1980s to the latest hits. Everything from rock, dance and pop and anything in between, said Eakins, who plays guitar.

“Sammy’s is smaller than most places we play, but it ended up being one of the (most fun) places we’ve been at,” he said. “We ended dup with more fans each time.”

The band changed its schedule just to be able to play at Sammypalooza this year.

“We are pumped up,” Eakins said. “It’s one of our favorite places to play because of the owner and the staff. It should be a great night.”