Festivals and Events
-
Chicago Boat, RV and Outdoors Show
At McCormick Place North. The destination choice for outdoor enthusiasts.
http://www.chicagoboatshow.com -
Chicago Auto Show
McCormick Place again. From trucks to futuristic concept cars.
http://www.chicagoautoshow.com -
St Patrick’s Day
One of Chicago’s most raucous celebrations. Join the parade.
http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com -
Chicago Antiques Fair
With 100 of the world's top dealers.
http://www.merchandisemart.com/chicagoantiques -
Great Chicago Places and Spaces
Festival that celebrates the city’s architecture and public spaces.
http://www.cityofchicago.org -
Chicago Country Music Festival
Big names turn out for this annual event at Grant Park.
http://www.chicagocountrymusicfestival.com -
Venetian Night
Half a million spectators watch decorated and illuminated boats parade along the Lake at dusk with music.
http://www.chicagotraveler.com/attractions/vene... -
Chicago Jazz Festival
Grant Park is the cool place to be on Labor Day weekend.
http://www.chicagojazzfestival.org -
Berghoff Beer Festival
Live music, German sausages and potato salad.
http://www.chicago.about.com/b/a/199264 -
Chicago International Film Festival
http://www.chicagofilmfestival.org -
The Chicago International Toy and Game Fair
At the Schaumburg Convention Center and Renaissance Hotel.
http://www.chitag.com -
Christkindlmarkt, Chicago
The grand opening of the Christmas market is a special highlight.
http://www.christkindlmarkt.com
Theatre, Cinema and Opera
The Chicago theatre scene is strong and well-established. There are traditional ‘Broadway’ plays and also offbeat works from the two major theatre companies, the Steppenwolf and the Goodman. In the Theatre District – in the Loop along Randolph Street - gloriously restored old movie palaces like the Oriental Theatre and the Chicago host touring productions of Broadway shows as well as pre-Broadway launches. Outside the Loop, a number of mid-sized venues such as Victory Gardens and the Royal George put on a mix of dramas, musicals and comedies, most of them locally produced. There are also smaller companies like Black Ensemble Theatre and Red Orchid. For current information on plays and tickets, contact the League of Chicago Theatres www.chicagoplays.com. For classical music, there’s the internationally-acclaimed Chicago Symphony Orchestra which performs at Symphony Center on S Michigan Avenue about ten times a month when it’s not on tour. www.cso.org. There’s a popular music festival in Grant Park which runs through the summer www.grantparkmusicfestival.com. The Lyric Opera of Chicago is tops for opera, performing in the restored Art Deco Civic Opera House on N Wacker Drive. Chicago also has a big film culture with venues ranging from mega-sized Omnimax theatres to standard three or four theatre first-run complexes. For information, the free Reader (www.chireader.com/movies/) always has up-to-date lists of show times, as does New City (www.newcitychicago.com/chicago/film)
Museums and Galleries
There’s a range of museums in Chicago covering many different aspects of art and science. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum on S Lake Shore Drive is an eye-catching, twelve-sided building with two sky theatres depicting the night sky and also features various virtual reality shows www.adlerplanetarium.org. The Art Institute of Chicago on S Michigan Avenue houses one of the best and most diverse art collections in the world. There’s a vast Impressionist collection as well as contemporary pieces by Picasso, Matisse, Hockney and others. www.artic.edu. At the Field Museum of Natural History on Lake Shore Drive, you can see the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, which was acquired for $8.4 million. www.fieldmuseum.org. Oak Park is the place Ernest Hemingway spent the first 20 years of his life and the Hemingway Museum and Birthplace chronicles that period of his life. www.homeandabroad.com/c/3/Site... For a real hands-on experience, try the Museum of Science and Industry – fascinating for all age groups and interests. www.msichicago.org
For Children
The Windy City is an exciting destination for a family holiday – there are loads of great activities. There are parks, beaches, museums, zoos, aquatic centres, boat rides on lake and river, skyscrapers and, for the older ones, top class baseball, football and basketball. The website to head for is www.chicagokids.com/places
