Editing East Peoria, Illinois (section)

== Arts and Culture ==

=== Fondulac District Library ===
The Fondulac District Library was established with the help of the East Peoria Woman's Club in 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |title=East Peoria History {{!}} East Peoria, IL |url=https://www.cityofeastpeoria.com/306/East-Peoria-History#:~:text=The%20coal%20industry%20was%20one,Manhattan%20and%20East%20Peoria%20Coal. |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=www.cityofeastpeoria.com}}</ref> Since then, it has moved locations several times to accommodate the increased usage and size of the collection. The collection includes [[Playaway]] devices, magazines, board games, puzzles, [[Roku]] players, and Wi-Fi hotspots.

==== April 2013 Flood ====
On April 17, 2013, East Peoria was among the communities impacted by the [[Floods in the United States (2000–present)#US Midwest floods 2013|flooding]] from heavy storms. Water was high enough to strand vehicles and the soil was so waterlogged that mudslides occurred.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline of historic 2013 flood |url=https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/2013/06/24/timeline-historic-2013-flood/42008430007/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=Peoria Journal Star |language=en-US}}</ref> That evening, a leak was discovered at the library. The water was cleaned up and the leak was presumed to be fixed. The next morning, the basement of the library had filled with several thousands of gallons of water. While the majority of the collection was safely transported upstairs intact, the walls, carpet, and furnishings were damaged, along with the computers. The library did not reopen to the public until April 24, 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Warren |first=Laura |date=April 23, 2013 |title=Library Flood |url=https://fondulaclibrary.org/2013/04/23/library-flood/ |access-date=February 16, 2023 |website=Fondulac District Library}}</ref>

==== New Building and Relocation ====
In April 2009, residents of East Peoria approved a referendum to build a new library in the present-day Levee District. In June 2012, ground was broken to begin the construction. This library is approximately 32,000 square feet, and features a larger collection of media than previous libraries. The library opened to the public on November 1, 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |title=About the Library |language=en-US |work=Fondulac District Library {{!}} East Peoria, IL |url=http://fondulaclibrary.org/about-us/ |access-date=2018-10-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 17, 2018 |title=New Library Building |url=https://fondulaclibrary.org/about-us/construction-project/ |access-date=2019-04-25 |website=Fondulac District Library {{!}} East Peoria, IL |language=en-US}}</ref>

The library shares an atrium called the Civic Complex with East Peoria City Hall, which was built on other side in 2015. The library has a circulation department and children's department on the first floor, while adult services, reference, and local history are on the second. In addition, there are public computers and several study rooms available for use on the second floor.

Levee Park features a reading garden that was dedicated to the library in 2018. It features seating with umbrellas for shade, as well as landscaping, a water fountain, and a Free Little Library. Costing US$500,000 to construct, it was paid for entirely through private donations to the East Peoria Community Foundation.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kramer |first1=Mike |last2=Gatehouse Media Illinois |date=May 9, 2018 |title=Levee Park reading garden debuts - EAST PEORIA |page=A1 |work=East Peoria Times-Courier}}</ref>

=== Festival of Lights ===
Beginning after Thanksgiving and ending in the first week of January, the city holds a Christmas light event known as the Festival of Lights.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hilyard |first=Scott |date=November 11, 2020 |title=Everybody loves a (socially distant) parade - Annual Parade of Lights is on for 2020 in East Peoria |page=A1 |work=East Peoria Times-Courier}}</ref> Started in 1984, it was initially a Parade of Lights, in which floats decorated in Christmas lights were driven through town. In 1986, the pencil-steel E.P. Noel Riverboat debuted. It appeared to be very popular with the city, so each float ever since has been made with pencil steel. As lighting effects improved over the years, animated features have been added to the floats.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Festival (FOLEPI) Guide {{!}} East Peoria, IL |url=https://www.cityofeastpeoria.com/152/Festival-FOLEPI-Guide |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=www.cityofeastpeoria.com}}</ref>

In 1993, the Winter Wonderland drive-through was constructed. All of the floats and displays stay here for the duration of the festival, and receive about 25,000 visitors annually.<ref>{{Cite web |title=East Peoria Festival of Lights draws thousands |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10368342 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016002208/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10368342 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 16, 2021 |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

From 1984 to 2013, The Festival Wreath was a Ferris wheel with fluorescent light tubes attached to its frame. In 2014, a new Festival Wreath replaced it with a welded frame, 80 tube-shaped lights, 1,000 lightbulbs, and rope lights. It sits on top of Fon du Lac Drive, overlooking the city.<ref name=":1" />

The symbol for the Festival of Lights is a little wooden toy soldier named FOLEPI (pronounced FO-LEE-PEE), which stands for '''F'''estival '''o'''f '''L'''ights, '''E'''ast '''P'''eoria, '''I'''llinois.

In 2020, the Festival of Lights was named Heavyweights Champion on ABC TV's ''[[The Great Christmas Light Fight]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-17 |title=East Peoria wins grand prize on 'Great Christmas Light Fight' |url=https://abc7chicago.com/christmas-light-fight-2020-east-peoria-festival-of-lights-great-the/8843735/ |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=ABC7 Chicago |language=en}}</ref>