The 6th annual River North Design District Gallery Walk, presented by Daniel Kinkade Fine Art, will return Friday, September 10, from 5-9 pm. Meet-and-greet Chicago's top interior designers, international artists, galleries and design showrooms as they create gorgeous vignettes to serve as b…

Enjoy a variety of fitness/wellness classes along the lake throughout the day during the Lakefront Fitness & Music Festival on Saturday, August 28. The event will include group exercises, local DJs, field games, adult beverages and a farmers market. Explore a variety of fitness classes a…

Join the cast of world class acrobats every weekend for a sexy and sensual burlesque circus style cabaret and dinner show coming to River North. 

"Meet Me on the Mile," a new outdoor series presented by the Magnificent Mile Association in conjunction with the city of Chicago, will celebrate the city's reopening and support cultural institutions and local businesses through summer programming.

The new Neon and Light Museum pop-up invites guests to stand in, under and around some seventy professional neon and light-based sculptures in a dramatic immersive exhibition opening in River North, 325 West Huron Street (formerly the site of Naçional 27), Thursday, September 9 for a limited…

Are you feeling lucky? Adopt a ducky and get quacking! The Chicago Ducky Derby takes place Thursday, August 5, 1 pm.

The popular midweek Jazzin' at the Shedd series returns Wednesday, August 4 (from 5- 10 pm) with a festival-worthy lineup of Chicago's top jazz ensembles.

HideSeek , an immersive pop-up experience that makes everyone feel like a kid again, is coming to Chicago this summer! Located in the Old Town neighborhood, the 10,000-square-foot location at 1620 North Wells Street is the first stop on its US Tour. The experience will open to the public on …

A secret rooftop rosé garden, the Château Carbie, debuted atop the Pendry Chicago recently. Offering a hidden escape to the French Riviera, 24 stories above the bustle of the city, Château Carbide offers Chicagoans and travelers an exciting opportunity to experience the iconic art deco-style…

Lyric Opera of Chicago will host live performances of two Italian works at the Lyric Opera House for the company's 67th season, which launches this fall.

A new program created by the Chicago Loop Alliance will take Windy City residents on a free outdoor exhibition of downtown mural art. 

Chicago Gourmet, one of the city's top food fests, will return September 2021 with a re-imagined celebration focusing on reuniting gourmet enthusiasts and Chicago's culinary community with founding sponsors at the Illinois Restaurant Association and presenting sponsor Southern Glazer’s Wine …

Goodman Theatre will welcome back live audiences for the 2021/2022 season on July 30 following a 16-month hiatus. 

Vroom, vroom, the Chicago Auto Show returns (finally!) to McCormick Place, this year with some fresh, new twists. On June 7, a pop-up preview was unveiled for media. It provided a first-look at what will take place at this reimagined show coming July 15-18. A street festival component will b…

One of the city's oldest nonprofits, The Service Club of Chicago, celebrated its annual Spring Luncheon (aka the Hat Luncheon) on May 21. The festive event was held at the Woman's Athletic Club and was a showcase for cool spring fashions as well as the latest in millinery wear.

A brand new art fair, EDITIONS, will debut at Navy Pier, Sept, 23-26. The brainchild of EXPO Chicago founder Tony Karman, the four-day event will host international print, photography and art book dealers and publishers. The fair has been created in affiliation with leading international art…

The Pitchfork Music Festival announced its exciting lineup today, May 17. The Festival will take place Friday, September 10 through Sunday, September 12 at Chicago’s Union Park.

Congrats Chance the Rapper! His upcoming concert film, Magnificent Coloring World, will get three days of advance screenings in Chicago, now through May 16, at AMC River East 21. Tickets went on sale May 12 at the theater box office, 322 E. Illinois.

It was a Windex-blue sky for the grand opening of The Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana that opened with much fanfare and a guitar smash on Friday, May 14.

The historic Walnut Room at Macy's State Street (111 N. State) will host its first drag brunch on June 12 in honor of Pride Month in Chicago.

My mom and dad divorced when I was 2. I don’t remember this, but do remember that, for my formative years, I felt like I was split in two. I shouldn’t complain, I know how lucky I was to have two parents who loved me, but sometimes I wish I'd had them both together in the same space.My dad, …

The Grant Park Music Festival will return to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion this summer, with a series of performances from the Grant Park Orchestra lined up in July and August. 

On May 4, Hindman Auctions will present Joan Mitchell's "Untitled, 1989" as a centerpiece of its Post War and Contemporary Art auction, where it will be offered with an estimate of $500,000-700,000. Mitchell was a renowned female voice who gained recognition during the second wave of the Abs…

Exhibition bringing $35 million worth of Banksy art to Chicago

This spring, the Art Institute of Chicago unveils the breathtaking, monumental Hartwell Memorial Window, a crowning achievement in the medium of stained glass. 

The 2120 Oakbrook Center in suburban Oak Brook will transport Chicagoans straight into Vatican City (no travel necessary). 

This year's 93rd Academy Awards will be broadcast from its new location at Union Station in Los Angeles with a remote from London. A Red Carpet will have limited attendance due to Covid restrictions. And, according to film critic Richard Roeper, there will be a record number of minority nomi…

Chicago Shakespeare Theater company will celebrate the Bard's birthday on Friday, April 23, with an evening of entertainment from a variety of performers. A previously taped, 45-minute video celebration (available for viewing here https://bit.ly/3sOTPAs) will be broadcast from 7-7:45 CT from…

PAWS Chicago, the city's largest no-kill humane organization will waive adoption fees through Saturday, April 24, with the virtual adoption event “Don’t Forget Me.” 

For more than three decades, 20-time Emmy Award-winning company HMS Media has entertained audiences around Chicago and the world. Now, to keep up with the unusual circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has introduced a cutting-edge hybrid performance model with virtua…

The Service Club of Chicago will host its popular annual hat luncheon, this year themed "Desperately Seeking Fashion" on Friday, May 21. Keynote speaker will be Sandy Schreier, the famed fashion curator and historian. 

Human + Nature

What's happening around Chicago:

Enjoy 5 acres of tulips at the Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, Ill., where visitors can find 300,000 bulbs of 30 different varieties and 70,000 tulips of mixed colors in a pick-your-own area design, with 230,000 flowers arranged in colorful blocks with a central design for photos.

The first U.S. exhibition focused on the work of Greek painter Yannis Tsarouchis will debut at Wrightwood 659 next month.

The Chicago Children's Theatre and the Negaunee Music Institute at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have teamed up to create "Maybe Something Beautiful," a virtual short film based on a children's book about a young girl who brings positivity to her neighborhood through her artwork.  

The Promise of Hope fashion show, hosted by the Ingalls Development Foundation to raise funds for cancer, goes virtual this year and will be held from 5-8 p.m. Sunday, April 18.

A virtual event honoring women in film and promoting pay equality, education and opportunity will be hosted by the Cinema/Chicago Associate Board and the Women Employed Advocacy Council.

Media artist Adrian Stein’s first art installation, titled "Quantum Mirror,” will premiere March 20.  at ArtSpace8, a 14,000-square foot Gold Coast gallery that specializes in contemporary fine art.

The Sideshow Theatre Company is thrilled to announce the continuation of their all-virtual series, The Sideshow House Party Series, consisting of five virtual readings by some of the company's favorite playwrights that will run from March 19 to Sept. 17.

Starting in March, Chicago Shakespeare Theater will debut a series of virtual productions that will be filmed live in the theater's performance spaces and streamed on-demand for viewers at home through the new Chicago ShakesSTREAM website.

Apart, Together, 360 CHICAGO Observation’s newest exhibit, features 21 images from eight Chicago photographers whose portraits capture the challenges and loss 2020 brought to so many, between COVID-19 and social unrest, while simultaneously capturing the incomparable resilience and the stren…

A new exhibit presented by the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, "Mandela: Struggle for Freedom," shines a spotlight on the life and legacy of former South African president and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.

Ballet aficionados can watch the online world premiere of The Joffrey's newest original work, Boléro, at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at joffrey.org.

Award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (The Vietnam War, Prohibition, The War, Frank Lloyd Wright) announced the launch of their virtual event, “Conversations on Hemingway,” Feb. 2 at the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour. 

Marvel comic fans, mask and suit up — the “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes” exhibit is set to take place next month at the Chicago Museum of Sciences and Industries, making it the world’s largest interactive Marvel Comics exhibit.