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GLBT pride runs strong in Chicago, especially during three extraordinary days in June!
The joyous celebration begins June 26 with Pride Fest. This non-stop two-day party on Halsted Street (at Waveland) features entertainment on two stages including one stage dedicated to some of the city's fine performers in the gay community. It also showcases an eclectic lineup of arts and crafts, food and many other vendors.
Festivities culminate on Sunday with the iconic Gay Pride Parade– a wild, happy, outrageous, heart-warming, fun event unlike any other in the world. This year’s procession - Chicago’s 40th annual – steps off at noon from the corner of Halsted and Belmont. Hundreds of thousands of friends, families and supporters line the parade route to cheer participants as they march north on Halsted to Broadway, then south on Broadway to Diversey, and east on Diversey to Cannon Drive in Lincoln Park. Parade entries include floats, decorated vehicles, marching bands, community organizations, businesses, elected officials, and many more.
Throughout all of June, dozens of related social, cultural, athletic and political events round out Gay Pride Month. Check the complete calendar, and get ready to show your true colors in Chicago!
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Fair Game
Looking for a few good reasons to visit Chicago this August? Northalsted Market Days, the Midwest’s largest two-day street fair, offers thousands.
Music makes Market Days – which spans six full city blocks in Chicago’s liveliest gay community - one of summer’s most entertaining go-to events. Performing on three stages and at the Jazz Oasis, more than 40 top-name musical acts give this event a reputation for some of the best live music in Chicago. So far, the lineup includes such national headliners as the Village People, Rock Candy, Dot Dot Dot, Cat Fight, Jody Watley, En Vogue, 16 Candles, The Flat Cats, BMR4, and Liz Mandeville & The Blues Points, among many others.
This festival is also famous for fabulous food and for the huge array of arts and crafts and other unique merchandise offered by some 400 vendors from across the country.
Northalsted Market Days runs August 1 and 2 - from 11 AM until 10 PM both days - along North Halsted Street between Belmont and Addison.
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May The Fourth Be With You
Chicago’s Independence Day celebration is such a blowout that the city gets a head start to make sure there’s time to savor it all!
The fun begins June 26 as Taste of Chicago opens in Grant Park. This outdoor food extravaganza features more than 300 menu items from 50-plus restaurants and entertainment that goes on for 10 days. Music on the Taste Stage runs daily with special themes like Indie Rock & Power Pop Friday, Cover Bands Day, World Music Day and, on July 4, Independence Celebration. On the Petrillo Music Shell Stage, artists include Charlie Wilson and the Gap Band, Counting Crows, Ne-Yo, Barenaked Ladies, and many others. International artists perform at Buckingham Fountain, where a market showcases wares from around the world.
The 85th Army Band takes center stage Friday evening, July 3, for the city’s official Independence Day concert and to lead in the stunning fireworks display which lights up the nighttime sky and lakefront.
The party continues the next day as Grant Park Music Festival – celebrating its 75th anniversary this year – begins a new Independence Day in Millennium Park tradition with an afternoon concert featuring tap dancer Lane Alexander. That evening, fireworks explode over Navy Pier during an extended display with special patriotic soundtrack.
For an unforgettable experience, check out the extraordinary views of the fireworks and twinkling skyline during July 3 and 4 Shoreline Sightseeing Fireworks Cruises. But tickets sell out quickly, so act fast.
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Peak Health
Health through the Life Course will be explored during a national forum designed to preserve and improve the health and wellness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex people of all races, ages, and backgrounds. The 2009 LGBTI National Health Summit (link to ) in August is designed to share information and ideas and to energize and inspire participants to tackle the problems confronting health and wellness for members of this community.
As Simone Koehlinger, Director of Chicago’s Office of LGBT Health, explains, “The LGBT community is not always used to focusing on and celebrating our health. In fact, we often battle messages that tell us that we don't matter or that we are inherently unhealthy. This event will serve as a strong antidote to those messages.”
Significantly coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, this event – the fourth of its kind – will kick off the evening of August 13 with the Bisexual Health Summit, which continues all day August 14. The evening of the 14th, the full LGBTI Health Summit begins, running through August 18. Sessions will be held at Hilton Chicago (720 S. Michigan).
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