QC Flavor Fest 2026 at Common Chord -- October 1.
Thursday, October 1, 5 – 8 p.m.
Common Chord, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
On October 1, guests of Davenport's Common Chord are invited to taste-test the best the Quad Cities has to offer with the eagerly anticipated, fourth-annual QC Flavor Fest, this fundraiser for music-education programs boasting a concert with Chicago Farmer, auction items, prizes, and some of the most mouth-watering delicacies available anywhere in the Midwest.
This special event offers sampling stations from favorite Quad Cities restaurants and food purveyors, among them: The Bread Lady; Chef's Catering Co.; The Crane & Pelican; Front Street Brewery; Hooters; G's Gourmet Popcorn; Mission BBQ; Olde Town Baker; and Smolin' Butt BBQ. QC Flavor Fest 2026 will feature unique and must-have silent-auction items, with 100 percent of the proceeds going directly to Common Chord’s music education. Guests will also have the opportunity to qualify cast their vote for the title of 2025 Quad Cities Favorite as restaurants and food purveyors compete in two categories – sweet and savory – for the coveted Golden Kazoo Award.
As the artist did last year, singer/songwriter Cody Diekhoff – better known by his recording alias Chicago Farmer – will provide live music throughout QC Flavor Fest 2026. The son of a small-town farming community, Diekhoff logged plenty of highway and stage time under the name Chicago Farmer before settling in the Windy City in 2003. Profoundly inspired by fellow Midwesterner John Prine, the singer/songwriter is a working-class folk musician whose rural roots, tilled with a city-streets mentality, have continually turned heads north and south of I-80. “I love the energy, music, and creativity of Chicago," he says at ChicagoFarmer.com, "but at the same time, the roots and hard work of my small town." Having grown up in Delavan, Illinois, with its population less than 2,000, Diekhoff writes music for “the kind of people that come to my shows. Whether in Chicago or Delavan, everyone has a story, and everyone puts in a long day and works hard the same way. My generation may have been labeled as slackers, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t work hard – many people I know put in 50-60 hours a week and 12 hour days. That’s what keeps me playing. I don’t like anyone to be left out; my music is for everyone in big and very small towns.”
Diekhoff listened to punk rock and grunge as a kid before discovering a friend’s dad playing Hank Williams, which the artist has called "a revelation." Since the release of his 2006 co-debuts From a Small Town in Illinois and About Time, Chicago Farmer has recorded EPs including Gunshots on Tuesday, Somethin' Else, and Fore!!!!, and with additional albums including 2007's Talk of Town, 2013's Backenforth, Il and 2016's Midwest Side Stories, the artist is currently performing in support of his forthcoming recording Homeaid. Fellow singer/songwriters have been lavish in their praise for Diekhoff, with Todd Snider calling him “the genuine heir to Arlo Guthrie or Ramblin' Jack Elliott,” and Pokey LaFarge saying that the musician is “definitely one of my favorite singers out there today.”
The fourth-annual QC Flavor Fest will be held in Davenport on October 1, admission to the 5 to 8 p.m. event is $50, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)223-8642 and visiting CommonChordQC.org.
