Cheese travel
Cheese in Illinois
Illinois cheese travel is about small farm creameries and one festival. Prairie Fruits Farm outside Champaign runs a Friday farm tour with a cheese tasting, and Marcoot Jersey Creamery near Greenville welcomes drop-in visitors. Arthur, in the heart of Illinois Amish country, holds the Arthur Cheese Festival at the start of September. In Chicago, Beautiful Rind teaches cheese classes every week.
Coming Up
- 3 Sep 2027 to 4 Sep Arthur Cheese Festival, Friday and Saturday before Labor Day (expected) (expected, not yet confirmed)
Festivals
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Central Illinois
Champaign has Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery, which calls itself Illinois' first farmstead creamery. It keeps Nubian and LaMancha goats, runs a restaurant and opens its farm store from Tuesday to Sunday. Half an hour south, the town of Arthur sits among more than 1,000 Amish families and hosts the Arthur Cheese Festival. Kilgus Farmstead near Fairbury, an hour north, gives farm tours and has a window onto its milk bottling.
Southern Illinois
Marcoot Jersey Creamery, a seventh-generation family dairy just off I-70 near Greenville, sells its cheeses in a country store and lets families take a self-guided tour without booking. It is about 50 minutes east of St. Louis.
Chicago
Beautiful Rind in Logan Square combines a cheese shop, restaurant and classroom, with classes most Thursday nights and a ten-cheese guided tasting you can book from Tuesday to Sunday. Heading north, Mars Cheese Castle is just over the Wisconsin line in Kenosha.
When to Go
Prairie Fruits Farm runs its public farm tour on Fridays through October, and Kilgus books farm tours in spring, summer and autumn. The Arthur Cheese Festival falls on the Friday and Saturday before Labor Day. Chicago's cheese classes run all year.
Getting Around
You need a car outside Chicago. Champaign is about two and a half hours south of Chicago on I-57, and Arthur is 10 miles west of I-57 at exit 203. Beautiful Rind is half a block from the Blue Line at California.
More Places to Visit
| Stop | Town | What you can do | When open | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilgus Farmstead | Fairbury | Family farm tours ($5, with a soft serve cone) and a country store with gelato and specialty cheeses; watch milk bottling early on Monday, Wednesday and Friday | Tours on set dates in spring, summer and autumn; book online | kilgusfarmstead.com |
Where to Stay in Illinois
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Questions People Ask
Can you tour a cheese farm in Illinois?
Yes. Prairie Fruits Farm near Champaign runs a $10 farm tour with a cheese tasting every Friday at 5:30pm through October, and Marcoot Jersey Creamery near Greenville offers self-guided visits during store hours.
When is the Arthur Cheese Festival?
On the Friday and Saturday before Labor Day. In 2026 it was held on 4 and 5 September; the 2027 dates have not been published.