What’s New and Happening in Chicago – Summer/Fall 2025

Choose Chicago Media Relations Contacts:
Michelle Gonzalez, mgonzalez@choosechicago.com
Stephanie D’Adamo, stephanie@letssipp.com

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (June 3, 2025) – After welcoming 55.3 million visitors in 2024, Choose Chicago is poised for another strong year, amped up by a full slate of summer and fall events that is sure to attract domestic and international visitors alike. Attendees of U.S. Travel Association’s IPW 2025, the largest international inbound travel trade show in the U.S., will have just a preview of what’s on offer when they join the convention at McCormick Place from June 14-18, 2025.

Prepare for the return of major events such as the James Beard Awards (the “Oscars” of the food world) at Chicago’s Lyric Opera, the adrenaline-pumping NASCAR Chicago Street Race and Lollapalooza (one of the biggest music festivals in the world), expected to collectively draw in tens of thousands of domestic and international visitors. Interspersed with such showstopping events, visitors can also enjoy local festivals put on by the city including Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago House Music Festival and Conference, Chicago Jazz Festival, Grant Park Music Festival, Millennium Park Summer Film Series, Chicago Air and Water Show, and more.

Choose Chicago invites you to come and discover award-winning restaurants, iconic attractions, stunning outdoor spaces, a rich cultural scene, vibrant neighborhoods, and a welcoming and inclusive Midwestern spirit. See for yourself why Chicago was honored to be voted the “Best Big City in the U.S.” by Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for a historic eighth consecutive year!

Visit ChooseChicago.com for more information and travel inspiration and register for access to our Image and Video Library.

Recent Accolades:

• Chicago was honored to be voted the “Best Big City in the U.S.” by Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for a historic eighth consecutive year. (Over 575,000 discerning and well-traveled readers participated in this prestigious survey!)
• At the most recent MICHELIN Guide Ceremony (held in New York City in December 2024), Cariño was awarded its first MICHELIN Star.
• The Chicago food scene is well represented in the semifinalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards.
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Thai Dang, HaiSous
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Diana Davila, Mi Tocaya Antojería
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Bo Fowler, BiXi Beer
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Joe Frillman, Daisies
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower, Maxwells Trading
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Lamar Moore, ETC.
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Noah Sandoval, Oriole
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Sujan Sarkar, Indienne
  • Best Chef: Great Lakes – Zeeshan Shah and Yoshi Yamada, Superkhana International
  • Outstanding Restaurateur – Mark Domitrovich, Brian Jupiter, and Aaron Torricelli, Pioneer Tavern Group (Frontier, Ina Mae Tavern, Lotties Pub, and others)
  • Outstanding Chef – Lee Wolen, Boka
  • Outstanding Restaurant – Galit
  • Emerging Chef – Jacob Potashnick, Feld
  • Best New Restaurant – Cariño
  • Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker – Leigh Omilinsky, Daisies
  • Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program – Elske
  • Outstanding Bar – Kumiko
  • Best New Bar – Bisous
  • Best New Bar – Truce
  • Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service – Thomas Kakalios, Asador Bastian
  • Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service – Christopher Marty, Best Intentions
• Z Bar at The Peninsula Chicago was named one of the 10 Top Hotel Bars in the United States by Food & Wine.

To read more about Chicago in the news, click here.

Accommodations:

The Talbott, a beloved landmark in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, completed a transformative renovation in April 2025, which culminated in its rebranding as a member of Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph
Collection. This renovation marks a new chapter in the hotel’s storied legacy, blending timeless elegance with contemporary sophistication to create a chic urban retreat for both discerning travelers and locals. The Talbott’s renovation encompasses every facet of the property, including its 178 guestrooms, public areas, and event spaces. Highlights of the transformation include upgraded guestrooms; lobby and front desk redesign; event, meeting space, and fitness center enhancements; and a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, LAUREL. (Neighborhood: Gold Coast)

Airlines and Airports:
The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) and Airports Council International (ACI) World have announced that O’Hare International Airport was ranked 2024’s second-busiest airport in the world for aircraft movements and the eighth busiest in the world for passengers. O’Hare handled 776,036 aircraft movements in 2024, second only to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. That figure marks a 7.7% increase in aircraft operations from 2023. O’Hare processed more than 80 million passengers last year, an 8.3% increase from 2023 — the largest year-over-year percentage gain of any airport in the Americas included in ACI’s 2024 rankings. O’Hare beat out Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China, and Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi in the top 10 rankings, moving up from its No. 9 position in 2023.

At Midway International Airport:

• Southwest is offering Boise, ID service 5x weekly starting June 5, 2025 (through September 29).
• Southwest is offering Spokane, WA service 5x weekly starting June 5, 2025 (through September 29).

At O’Hare International Airport (International Flights):

• American is offering Halifax, CA service 1x weekly starting June 21, 2025 (through October 4).
• WestJet is offering Edmonton, CA service 3x weekly starting June 4, 2025 (through October 22).
• Turkish Airlines will increase capacity on its Chicago – Istanbul route from 14x weekly to 17x weekly beginning on July 7, 2025. This is the first time that the carrier will operate more than twice-daily service on the route and the service will be a mix of B787-9 and B777-300ER aircraft.

At O’Hare International Airport (Domestic Flights):

• American is offering Bismarck, ND service 7x weekly starting June 5, 2025.
• American is offering Boise, ID service 7x weekly starting June 5, 2025.
• American is offering Colorado Springs, CO service 7x weekly starting June 5, 2025.
• American is offering Hyannis, MA service 1x weekly starting June 21, 2025 through August 30, 2025.
• American is offering Spokane, WA service 7x weekly starting June 5, 2025.
• United is offering Sault St. Marie, MI service 7x weekly through September 28, 2025.
• United is offering Pellston, MI service between 7x weekly and 14x weekly through September 28, 2025.
• United is offering Rhinelander, WI service between 7x weekly and 14x weekly through September 28, 2025.

Food and Libations:

Ambar, which offers a modern interpretation of Balkan cuisine with a “Dining Without Limits” experience, recently opened a new Chicago location. The restaurant’s every detail expresses the deeply rooted Balkan heritage, built around award-winning food and unparalleled hospitality. Small plates transform the traditional experience of gathering around the table for a feast to enjoy grilled meats, fine cheeses, various blends of kaymak, local wines, and an expansive collection of rakia. (Neighborhood: River North)

Cafe Yaya, the latest venture from James Beard Foundation award-winning Chef Zach Engel and Partner Andrés Clavero, brings an all-day dining experience and community space to the heart of Lincoln Park. Guests can look forward to a rotating selection of morning pastries, followed by a brunch, lunch, and dinner menu that showcases a variety of flavors and influences. The menu is complemented by a robust wine program highlighting small producers and classic cocktails. The second floor serves as a community gathering hub, perfect for any occasion. (Neighborhood: Lincoln Park)

Cantina Rosa, now open in Hyde Park, offers craft cocktails that appeal to sophisticated palates and newcomers alike, with an atmosphere that blends modern sensibilities with traditional influences. Honoring Mexican heritage, Cantina Rosa draws inspiration from diverse regions across Mexico, enriched by the expertise of Virtue’s most experienced Mexican team members. The name “Rosa” holds deep personal significance, paying tribute to two women—Rosa, the mother of Jesus Garcia, and Rosetta, the grandmother of Erick Williams—who profoundly shaped their lives. (Neighborhood: Hyde Park)

Chapel Street Cafe, Chicago’s first Australian-style café, opened on the Magnificent Mile in early January 2025. Led by Melbourne native and hospitality veteran Shawn Uldridge, the café features a roastery, dine-in service, and a take-out bar, offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a distinctly Australian flair. The menu includes classic Australian dishes such as avocado toast, flat white coffee, meat pies, and Vegemite sandwiches. Uldridge plans to elevate these traditional offerings with a Chicago twist, with all items baked, smoked, and prepared in-house. Additionally, Chapel Street roasts gourmet coffee beans on-site and features an exclusive beverage program offering only Australian wines. (Neighborhood: Magnificent Mile)

Crust Tap Room is an exciting new addition to the Crust Brewing family that aims to captivate the locals with its exquisite offerings. With a draft lineup carefully brewed at Crust Brewing in Rosemont, Crust Tap Room also takes pride in its focus on perfecting the Chicago Tavern Style Pizza. Emphasizing exceptional service, craft cocktails, outstanding cuisine, and refreshing, flavorful beer, this neighborhood spot promises to be an unforgettable experience for all who step through its doors. Whether you are seeking a casual gathering with friends or a memorable night out, Crust Tap Room guarantees a remarkable time that will leave you craving more. (Neighborhood: Irving Park)

Dialtone is where your day begins, and your night unfolds—your go-to whether you need to ‘wake up or wind down.’ By day, it’s a welcoming coffee spot with drinks crafted in collaboration with Metric Coffee and a rotating selection of fresh pastries. As the sun sets, Dialtone transforms into a moody, intimate wine bar, offering a curated selection of Italian wines that entice you to stay awhile. With its blend of vintage charm and modern elegance—marble surfaces, deep hues, and curated decor—the space exudes a timeless yet bold atmosphere that balances both comfort and intrigue. Whether you’re starting your morning or ending your day, this community-driven space invites you to relax, recharge, and connect. Dialtone opened in February 2025. (Neighborhood: Old Town)

Garcia’s Chicago, newly opened in Fulton Market, is a concert venue and restaurant celebrating Jerry Garcia’s extraordinary legacy. Its food and beverage offerings are a reflection of Jerry’s diverse tastes and life experiences. Developed by the acclaimed team at Lowder-Tascarella Hospitality (LTH)—known for their work at NoMad, The Modern, and award-winning luxury restaurants and hotels globally—the menu brings together flavors from Jerry’s Spanish roots, Northern California upbringing, and love for American comfort food. The kitchen, led by Executive Chef and proud Chicago native Ivy Carthen, offers approachable, elevated dishes that are as eclectic and adventurous as Jerry’s music with “gentle nods” to his biography. The world-class beverage program features a thoughtful mix of craft cocktails, zero-proof options, and premium wines and beers, created by the LTH cocktail team. (Neighborhood: Fulton Market)

The newest bar from Lettuce Entertain You, Gus’ Sip and Dip, is a classic neighborhood tavern from award-winning Beverage Director and Partner Kevin Beary (Three Dots and a Dash and The Bamboo Room) and Chef Partner Bob Broskey (RPM Restaurants). Gus’ Sip and Dip opened at 51 W. Hubbard St. in Chicago’s River North in January 2025. The cocktail menu spotlights more than 30 familiar mixed drinks all made with a list of carefully selected spirits from Beary and the bar team. The food menu offers classic tavern favorites from Broskey including an assortment of traditional and modern dipped sandwiches and more. (Neighborhood: River North)

Jōtō Sushi has opened its doors in the former Jinsei Motto, the renowned sushi and omakase pop-up previously hosted by CH Distillery. Jōtō guests can experience both à la carte sushi and signature omakase dining, each reflecting its dedication to culinary excellence and attention to detail. Choose the vibrant, upscale lounge with panoramic views of CH Distillery’s cutting-edge stainless steel distillation tanks, or opt for the exclusive omakase room, thoughtfully created to offer an intimate, elevated, and playful dining experience in the spirit of the original Jinsei Motto pop-up. (Neighborhood: West Loop)

Madame Puffs and Thai Bistro, now open in Lincoln Square, offers a passionate fusion of authentic Thai flavors and modern creativity, expertly crafted with locally sourced ingredients to transport your taste buds to the heart of Sichuan. The menu features curries and noodle dishes like pad thai and pad see ew, as well as pastry pockets with fillings like curry chicken and black sesame. (Neighborhood: Lincoln Square)

Professional skateboarder Neen Williams and Chef Phillip Frankland Lee of the Michelin-starred restaurant Pasta|Bar in Los Angeles opened their second NADC (“Not a Damn Chance”) Burger Chicago location in Wicker Park in March— the eighth location nationally for the popular burger concept that many have called “the best burger.” Located at 1426 North Milwaukee Avenue, NADC Burger is Williams and Lee’s take on the perfect double cheeseburger, with a focus on a simple, classic menu of just two things – burgers and fries. (Neighborhood: Wicker Park)

NADU, the latest restaurant concept from Michelin-starred Chef Sujan Sarkar, showcases the rich cultural and gastronomic landscapes of India, where every region tells its own story through food. The menu features a symphony of regional cuisines, from the aromatic biryani of Hyderabad to the fiery curries of Kerala, the street snacks of Delhi to the coastal delicacies of Goa. The menu is thoughtfully curated to offer an authentic yet contemporary dining experience, with dishes crafted from fresh, locally-sourced ingredients and traditional Indian spices. (Neighborhood: Lincoln Park)

Noriko Handroll Bar is a unique and exciting dining experience offering affordable handroll sets, handcrafted cocktails, Japanese spirits, and an essential sake selection. Located in the basement beneath Perilla Korean American Fare, the restaurant showcases creative interpretations of cone-shaped sushi. Other menu highlights include edamame hummus and the Noriko salad. (Neighborhood: Fulton River District)

Three of Chicago’s most influential hospitality powerhouses have come together to open The Alston, a highly anticipated dining destination at the corner of State and Superior in Chicago’s Gold Coast. The culinary team will be led by Chef/Partner Jenner Tomaska featuring a celebration of wood-fired prime cuts along with French-influenced dining and elevated European charm. The wine program will be helmed by Master Sommelier Ken Fredrickson. The space will boast 350 seats across its expansive dining room, bar, and year-round terrace. Beyond its impressive dining space, The Alston will also house Chicago’s most upscale and unique private member’s club. The Alston is expected to debut in May 2025. (Neighborhood: Gold Coast)

Boka Restaurant Group’s Zarella, a neighborhood pizzeria and taverna, is now open in the heart of River North. Chef Partners Chris Pandel (Swift & Sons, Cira, Swift & Son’s Tavern) and Lee Wolen (Boka, Alla Vita, GG’s Chicken Shop) have come together to craft a menu featuring a mix of tavern-style and artisan pizzas, an array of entrées and small bites, as well as fresh salads, alongside an ever-rotating menu of Italian specialties, promising a dining experience that is both nostalgic and unique. (Neighborhood: River North)

Exhibitions (Immersive Art & Museums):

The Art Institute of Chicago’s new summer and fall exhibitions include (Neighborhood: The Loop):

• Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World (June 29 – October 5, 2025) – This exhibition, which opened at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris in October 2024, includes more than 120 works—paintings, works on paper, photographs, and other ephemera from throughout Caillebotte’s career. In addition to recognizable works like Floor Scrapers and the Art Institute’s Paris Street; Rainy Day, the show presents lesser-known but pivotal works like the Musée d’Orsay’s recent acquisition, Boating Party, and the Louvre Abu-Dhabi’s The Bezique Game, as well as many works from private collections that are rarely seen by American audiences. Together, these works open a new window onto Caillebotte—as a complex figure with many interests, as an Impressionist who painted like no other Impressionist, and as an artist who captured his own, very distinct Paris.
• Pixy Liao: Relationship Material (July 5 – December 8, 2025) – Since 2007, Pixy Liao has collaborated with her partner, Takahiro Morooka (nicknamed Moro), on a series of staged, often humorous self-portraits. These works wryly examine the power dynamics between artist and muse, prod at conservative gender roles, and document the evolution of their relationship. Presenting approximately 45 works that span the duration of this ongoing series, Pixy Liao: Relationship Material—the artist’s first exhibition in Chicago—celebrates the couple’s many ways of being and working together. As the title suggests, the show frames Pixy’s relationship with Moro as artistic material in itself, showing how this manifests not only in photographs but also in sculptures, videos, and PIMO. Through these works, Pixy chronicles and enacts efforts to “reach a new equilibrium” in a partnership that is both artistic and romantic, examining questions of fantasy, desire, and control.
• Elizabeth Catlett: “A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies” (August 30, 2025 – January 4, 2026) – A deft sculptor and printmaker, ardent feminist, and lifelong social activist, Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012) was a defining artist of the 20th century. Across nearly 100 years—from Jim Crow segregation through the Cold War and into Barack Obama’s first term as president—Catlett remained steadfast in her commitment to both her art and her political beliefs. Bringing together over 100 works from across Catlett’s awe-inspiring career, this long-overdue retrospective showcases the significant role this revolutionary artist and radical activist played in her time and the influence she still has today. Her powerful work continues to speak directly to all those united in the fight against poverty, racism, and imperialism.

Chicago Architecture Center presents Constructing Hope: Ukraine (through September 1, 2025). This exhibition explores short and long term reconstruction efforts in Ukraine bringing together a wide range of grassroots projects to illustrate how architecture can foster mutual aid and facilitate crucial support networks for entire communities. Constructing Hope: Ukraine showcases the work of over a dozen participants currently applying architectural thinking to support Ukraine’s short and long-term reconstruction efforts. In the face of Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine—a war that has destroyed and existentially threatened Ukrainians’ lives, ecology, culture, and infrastructure—these multidisciplinary creatives regain agency over their environment by employing architectural strategies and practices as a form of resistance. Showcasing their work and ideas, Constructing Hope: Ukraine reveals the power of collaboration, horizontal organizing, and knowledge exchange, illuminating architecture’s critical role in building a collective resistance that can generate hope for imperiled communities in Ukraine and beyond. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Chicago History Museum’s exhibition Dressed in History: A Costume Collection Retrospective (through July 27, 2025) celebrates 100 years of the museum’s vast costume collection and the donors, curators, and staff who have shaped it. Featuring 70 rarely seen objects, from glamorous gowns and sharp suits to house dresses and sneakers, Dressed in History: A Costume Collection Retrospective explores how clothing captures the material, social, and changing cultural values throughout history. (Neighborhood: Lincoln Park)

Cleve Carney Art Museum will present Hokusai and Ukiyo-e: The Floating World (through September 21, 2025), an exhibition showcasing over 60 works and artifacts by the masters of Japan’s Edo Period (1603-1868). Works by acclaimed artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige are a window into life during this time when the city of Edo (present-day Tokyo) thrived as the center of Japan’s economy and culture. The collection includes original painted works, intricate color woodblock prints, instruments and other beautifully lacquered objects, and more. (Glen Ellyn, IL)

Design Museum of Chicago will dedicate an exhibition to Arts of Life (August 11 – September 30, 2025). Featuring works from their new 25th anniversary artwork-filled book, titled 2wenty 5ive – Arts of Life 2000-2025, this exhibition is a retrospective that highlights the organization’s role in the progressive art studio movement in supporting artists with disabilities. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Elmhurst Art Museum will feature two new exhibitions this spring and summer. (Elmhurst, IL)

• CROSSINGS by Bernard Williams (through August 17, 2025) – CROSSINGS traverses the Museum’s campus and features several dynamic vehicle sculptures by Bernard Williams in Wilder Park, Hostetler Gallery, and large paintings in the McCormick House. Through the artworks on view, the artist addresses the concept of mobility as both the physical movement forward and the human aspiration to rise to better circumstances. The Chicago-based artist has been making public murals and sculptures for over thirty years. Bold thick lines and generalized, flat shapes common in graphic illustration define his unique and playful sculptural style. Williams often researches and highlights little known or forgotten narratives in history to make his sculptures, paintings, and murals, which offer new perspectives on the engineering innovations of the past and how they impact contemporary culture. The works are also a tribute to Black achievement in transportation and agriculture throughout American history.
• Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum’s Permanent Collection (through August 17, 2025) – Over time, the Museum has acquired a unique assortment of paintings, prints, sculptures, and drawings with a concentration of late 20th Century American Art and Mid-Century Design. The exhibition delves into the connections between the artworks and the people who once owned them to present Legacies. Much of EAM’s collection is the result of personal relationships between artist, artwork, collector, and Museum. This exhibition draws these relationships into focus, inviting visitors to understand the artwork not just as an isolated piece, but as part of a larger, ongoing narrative that includes culture, history, and personal legacy.

Driehaus Museum presents Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature (through August 17, 2025) – This travelling exhibition seeks to reintroduce Scottish botanical artist Rory McEwen (1932-1982) and his remarkable body of visual work to United States audiences, in the process also inspiring wider appreciation for the botanical arts and the unique role they have played throughout art history. (Neighborhood: River North)

Dunn Museum will unveil Alex Ross: Heroes & Villains (June 28, 2025 – January 20, 2026). Known for his realistic painting style of classic comic book characters, Alex Ross has transformed the comic world into fine art. Using gouache paints, Ross brings heroes and villains from the Marvel and DC universes to life with striking realism. The 100 portraits featured in the exhibition Alex Ross: Heroes & Villains capture each character’s individual attitude, naturally influencing their poses. Combining the portraits creates a larger-than-life mural, transporting visitors into the perfect environment to strike a pose with their favorite superhero or villain. (Libertyville, IL)

Griffin Museum of Science and Industry will present the exciting world of one of the most beloved superheroes of all time in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing – The Exhibition (through February 8, 2026). In this immersive exhibit, you’ll see rare comic books, view props and costumes from your favorite Spider-Man movies, explore cutting-edge interactive installations, and take photos with life-size statues of your favorite characters, like Miles Morales, Ghost-Spider, and, of course, Spider-Man! Superfans can dive deep into the evolution of Spider-Man from his first comic book appearance to the latest TV, movie, and video games, while kids of all ages can get hands-on with drawing activities and more. (Neighborhood: Museum Campus)

Hyde Park Art Center will feature three new exhibitions this summer and fall. (Neighborhood: Hyde Park)

• Emily Frances Winter: Apparent Paths (through November 16, 2025) – Apparent Paths brings together a new series of weavings by Emily Frances Winter. These building portraits utilize the textile language of plaids, stripes, and gradients to render sky, earth, and architecture. Woven while in residence at the Icelandic Textile Center (Blönduós, Iceland) and Praxis Fiber Workshop (Cleveland, Ohio), the works represent a series of singular moments when light and form and shadow lined up in such a way as to bring the simultaneous specificity and universality of the built environment into view. These building portraits deploy the material qualities of thread and woven structure to address questions of space, light, and volume and a certain type of observation made possible by attention and patience and presence.
• Teen Exhibition (June 21 – September 28, 2025) – The annual exhibition highlights paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics, prints, animation, and multimedia work by young adult artists participating in Hyde Park Art Center’s Teen programs. Throughout the 30-week program, teens cultivate their creative voices under the guidance of professional artists. The exhibition is a testament to these young artists’ evolution and dedication, who have taken on the challenge of expressing perplexed thoughts, feelings, and emotions into individual works of art.
• Mark Me, Too: Black Contemporary Artists and the Making of Marks (August 2 – December 14, 2025) – One of the most common enactments of an artist’s practice is mark making. An artist’s mark can be reflective of art historical genres and suggestive of their gestural idiosyncrasies that respond to lived experiences, emotions, or their surroundings. Inspired by Toni Morrison’s canonical text Beloved, this exhibition engages approaches to art making through the gesture and concept of the mark taken up by Black contemporary artists, who turn the art historical form of mark making on its head. In the works on view, artists contend with the marks of displacement, colonialism, migration, birth, and beauty, as they repurpose, refabricate, and reorient materials to reflect on how they might carry them through their practice. The final works leave seams visible, place dissonant objects into conversation, provide documentation of the production of the work alongside the final iteration, or obscure materials only to make them palpable under the surface.

The newly-renovated Intuit Art Museum will exhibit Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-Taught Art in Chicago (through January 11, 2026), which includes lesser-known and reexamines better-known self-taught artists through the lens of immigrant experience. Artists include Carlos Barberena (Nicaragua), María Enríquez de Allen (Mexico), Tae Kwon “Thomas” Kong (North Korea/South Korea), Aldobrando “Aldo” Piacenza (Italy), Pauline Simon (Russia), Genya “Jennie” Siporin (Poland), Drossos Skyllas (Greece), Bronislaw “Bruno” Sowa (Poland), Stanisław “Stanley” Szwarc (Poland), Charles Warner (Poland/then Prussia), Derek Webster (Honduras/Belize) and Badaskhan Zakoian (Armenia), among others. Themes include longing for homeland, labor and individual expression, and tendencies toward assimilation—subjects examined through the lens of the aftermath of immigration and the power of art to humanize and bear witness to historical events. (Neighborhood: West Town)

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago will unveil these new exhibitions and events this summer and fall. (Neighborhood: Streeterville)

• Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom (through August 31, 2025) presents 25 years of work from artist Paul Pfeiffer, whose practice interrogates ideas of spectacle and mass culture. By repurposing the tools and systems of media production—including editing, staging, and outsourcing—Pfeiffer recontextualizes global celebrities such as pop stars, film actors, and athletes to reveal relationships between audiences and icons. As the artist puts it, “Who’s using who? Is the image making us, or do we make images?” Whether through televised broadcasts of sporting events, editorial photographs of cultural icons, or the ecstasy of a soccer stadium, Pfeiffer interrogates the consumption of images and culture. For Pfeiffer, the basketball court, the boxing ring, and the stadium not only serve as platforms for grand spectacles but as sites where the body politic—of a nation, of a community, of society—is imagined, defined, and contested.
• Tuesdays on the Terrace (Every Tuesday, June 24 – August 26, 2025) – Enjoy an evening of free music on the MCA’s Anne and John Kern Terrace Garden with MCA’s annual summer concert series, now in its 26th year, celebrating artists from Chicago’s internationally renowned music community. Tuesdays on the Terrace continues to offer an expansive and contemporary look at jazz in Chicago while embracing the city’s diverse musical traditions. This year’s series highlights a range of Chicago artists working in genres like pop, soul, R&B, and more, alongside a strong foundation of jazz performances. Gates open at 4:30 p.m., with performances running from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. with a set break. The 2025 lineup includes Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few, Twin Talk, Kouri Hall, Shaunee Dez, Rotary Connection 222, NADIMA, Family Junket, Tromblau & Friends, Bethany Pickens’ Soulful Coalition, and Corey Wilkes.
• City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago (July 5, 2025 – January 25, 2026) is an intergenerational group exhibition that highlights Chicago’s essential, yet often underacknowledged, role in the story of queer art and activism. The exhibition examines this history from the mid-1980s, when activists radically mobilized in response to the U.S. government’s disastrous handling of the AIDS crisis. In this moment of change, activists reclaimed the historically pejorative epithet “queer” as a liberatory term, encompassing all who purposefully deviate from heteronormative society. Drawn from the MCA’s collection and other local collections, City in a Garden follows this paradigm shift in LGBTQ+ history by bringing together work from over 30 artists and collectives working in Chicago from the 1980s to the present.

The National Public Housing Museum opened its doors in April 2025 at 919 S. Ada Street on Chicago’s Near West Side. Located in the last remaining building of the historic Jane Addams Homes, the museum is committed to preserving the profound legacy of public housing and fostering a nuanced understanding of its impact on communities. (Neighborhood: Little Italy)

Wrightwood 659 will welcome The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939 (through July 26, 2025). After six years in the making, this major international loan exhibition explores a sea change in how
society regarded homosexuality in the wake of the coining of the term “homosexual” in 1869. Previewed in a smaller presentation at Wrightwood 659 in 2022, The First Homosexuals examines how, for the first time, homosexuals were cleaved from the rest of the population and given an identity that turned on their sexuality. The exhibition is unprecedented, with more than 300 works by more than 125 artists from 40 countries, on loan from over 100 museums and private collections across the world, including the Musée d’Orsay, The Tate, The Courtauld, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kunsthaus Zürich, National Museum of Denmark, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, and Pinacoteca de São Paulo, with a number of national treasures which have never before been allowed to travel outside their countries. (Neighborhood: Lincoln Park)

Festivals & Events:

Argyle Night Market (Thursdays, July 3 – August 28, 2025) – Started in 2013 by Uptown United, the Argyle Night Market is an annual event that features food from local Argyle restaurants plus live cultural and musical performances on Thursday evenings each summer. This vibrant and award-winning event is located on Argyle, the city’s first shared street. (Neighborhood: Uptown)

Art on THE MART (through July 6, 2025) – This spring, California-based artist Shana Moulton’s surreal series “Whispering Pines” will be projected onto the Merchandise Mart. Follow her alter-ego “Cynthia” on a journey of self-discovery through domestic rituals and dreamy visuals. (Neighborhood: River North)

Artists of the Wall Festival (June 14-15, 2025) – A beloved Father’s Day weekend tradition, this long-standing community festival will feature 160 murals, live music, and kids’ activities. Artists, neighbors, and families in Rogers Park and from across the city will paint sections of a 600-foot-long beach wall, with pre-registered mural spots available for purchase. This year’s theme will be “All Together Now.” Visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic and blanket while enjoying the festival and check out the walking trails, natural dunes, picnic grounds, fishing pier, lighthouse, and nearby restaurants, bookstores, and gift shops. (Neighborhood: Rogers Park)

Beyond Wonderland Chicago (June 7–8, 2025) – Get ready for two days of non-stop beats and jaw-dropping visuals. With multiple stages featuring house, techno, dubstep, trance, and more, this is one of the most immersive EDM festivals in the Midwest. Expect an insane lineup including Marshmello, Afrojack, Illenium, SLANDER, Subtronics, Yellow Claw, Virtual Riot, Wooli, MK, and many more. Afterparties across Chicago are also planned featuring artists like Kaskade, RL Grime, and Alesso. (Neighborhood: South Side)

Chicago Air and Water Show (August 16-17, 2025) – The Chicago Air and Water Show has been an iconic Chicago event since 1959. The annual summer spectacle is the largest and oldest free-admission air and water exhibition in the United States. The two-day event draws an audience of over one million to the city’s stunning lakefront to see pilots perform astonishing stunts above the waters of Lake Michigan. (Neighborhood: Lincoln Park)

Chicago Blues Festival (June 5-8, 2025) – The largest FREE Blues festival in the world, the festival features top tier talent performing in Chicago’s Millennium Park. (Neighborhood: Bridgeport, Millennium Park)

Chicago Disability Pride Parade (July 26, 2025) – The Disability Pride Parade aims to change the way people think about and define “disability,” break down and end the internalized shame among people with Disabilities, and promote the belief in society that Disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity in which people living with Disabilities can take pride. The parade begins at 401 S. Plymouth Court and covers two full blocks of Plymouth Court between Congress Expressway and Jackson Blvd., one block west of State Street. (Neighborhood: South Loop)

Chicago Farmers Markets (Through October 2025) – Chicago Farmers Markets bring fresh produce, local artisans, global street food, and vibrant multicultural programming to neighborhoods citywide. Find fresh seasonal produce, flowers, prepared foods, unique Chicago-made products, and more at Chicago’s longest running farmers market on Daley Plaza, the historic Maxwell Street Market, and community markets in neighborhoods across Chicago. (Multiple Neighborhoods)

Chicago Gospel Music Festival (July 12, 2025) – Gospel music has deep roots in Chicago. The Chicago Gospel Music Festival, one of the city’s free summer music festivals, keeps that tradition alive with a joyful, family-friendly celebration against the mesmerizing backdrop of Millennium Park. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Chicago Gourmet (September 25-28, 2025) – This year, Chicago Gourmet is celebrating the wide world of food and sports, fielding a squad of culinary all-stars who are ready to bring it with championship-level bites and sips. Join over 100 powerhouse chefs including Rick Bayless, Stephanie Izard, Sarah Grueneberg, Joe Flamm, Art Smith, Jeff Mauro, Erick Williams, Thai Dang, Jonathon Sawyer, Lorena Garcia, Carlos Gaytan, Jenner Tomaska, Marcos Carbajal, Diana Dávila, Lamar Moore, Dominique Leach, Brian Jupiter, Donald Young, Paul Virant, Stephen Gillanders, Casey Doody, Djibril Webb, Tony Priolo, and many more! (Neighborhood: Millennium Park)

Chicago House Music Festival and Conference (August 22-23, 2025) – The Chicago House Music Festival is an annual celebration of the Chicago-born genre that has revolutionized dance music globally. Held in Millennium Park every summer, this joyous event attracts house fans from across the globe to hear today’s top DJs and up-and-coming talent. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Chicago Jazz Festival (August 28-31, 2025) – The Chicago Jazz Festival is a Labor Day weekend tradition that promotes all forms of jazz through free, high-quality music programming at Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park. The festival showcases Chicago’s local talent alongside national and international artists to raise awareness and appreciation for one of the city’s most beloved art forms. (Neighborhood: The Loop, Millennium Park)

Chicago Pride Fest (June 21-22, 2025) is a massive two-day pride celebration that takes over Northalsted every June. Each year, more than 100,000 revelers flock to the historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood to take part in the festivities, including three stages with live music, more than 100 arts and crafts vendors, food from local restaurants, drag shows, dance performances, a high-heel race, and more. This year’s headlining artists include Natasha Bedingfield, JoJo Siwa, Sapphira Cristál, Bob the Drag Queen, Amber Riley, and more across two stages. (Neighborhood: Northalsted)

Chicago Pride Parade (June 29, 2025) – As one of the most popular LGBTQ+ events in the city, the Chicago Pride Parade has been a tradition for more than 50 years, concluding the city’s month-long celebrations with a four-mile procession traversing Northalsted, Uptown, Lakeview, and Lincoln Park. This year’s theme, United in Pride, highlights the power of coming together, embracing diversity, and championing love and equality as one united force. (Multiple Neighborhoods)

Chicago SummerDance (June – September 2025) – Enjoy live music and dancing on an open-air dance floor during the annual Chicago SummerDance festival. This free summer-long event series brings people together in the city’s scenic parks for evenings filled with music, dance, community, and celebration. Each event includes lessons from a professional dance instructor, featuring more than 30 unique dance styles from around the globe. (Multiple Neighborhoods)

Chinatown Summer Fair (July 26-27, 2025) – This iconic event is one of the most ethnically unique outdoor events in Chicago and the Midwest. Attracting more than 50,000 people from throughout the region, Chinatown Summer Fair is a true celebration of Far East beauty and culture including food, art, and music. This neighborhood street festival will open with a lion dance procession, followed by Asian performances; kung fu demonstrations; samplings from Chinatown’s restaurants and unique gift shops; arts and crafts exhibits; street vendors with an array of merchandise; and a children’s area. (Neighborhood: Chinatown)

Glenwood Sunday Market in Rogers Park (June 1 – October 26, 2025) – For the past 15 consecutive years, Glenwood Sunday Market has helped sustain the local food system and provided a significant revenue stream for local farmers and food producers. Glenwood Sunday Market combats food insecurity in Rogers Park and strives for social justice through food access. The Market offers a variety of products ranging from meat, produce, dairy, honey, bakeries, sweets to coffee, tofu, popsicles, and flowers through the beautiful Glenwood Alfresco. (Neighborhood: Rogers Park)

Gold Coast Art Fair (June 7-8, 2025) – Now in its 67th year, the prestigious Gold Coast Art Fair features over 200 juried artists from across the country, offering a diverse range of original works in painting, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, mixed media, and more. The fair also includes Paint and Sip classes, henna art, caricatures, personalized poems, and interactive art booths for kids. The Kids Art Zone is packed with fun activities, including face painting, sand art, giant bubbles, and more. (Neighborhood: Gold Coast)

Grant Park Music Festival (June 11 – August 16, 2025) – Experience a Chicago summer tradition like no other. The Grant Park Music Festival, now in its 90th season, features an extraordinary lineup of classical music in the heart of downtown Chicago all summer long. This long-running concert series is the nation’s only free, summer-long outdoor festival dedicated to classical music. Featuring the acclaimed Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, the festival programming includes both historic works and exciting new compositions. Highlights for 2025 include world premiere works by Chicago composers, a Rodgers & Hammerstein tribute, classic symphonies, and the popular Independence Day Salute. (Neighborhood: Grant Park, The Loop)

InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile Dive into Pride Pool Party (June 7, 2025) – The InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile will host its third annual Dive Into Pride pool party with a new toga theme. Set in the hotel’s historic 1920s-era Junior Olympic-sized pool, known for its stunning Spanish Majolica tiles and hand-carved terracotta fountain, the event will feature performances by Naysha Lopez and the Pit Crew. Guests can enjoy entertainment, reserve poolside cabanas, and celebrate Pride in a unique setting. A portion of proceeds will benefit Vivent Health/TPAN, supporting local LGBTQIA+ programs. (Neighborhood: Magnificent Mile)

Lincoln Park Greek Fest (June 6-8, 2025) – Lincoln Park Greek Fest will again bring the aromas, sounds, tastes and traditions of Greece to all Chicagoans in June. This popular annual cultural celebration on the grounds of St. George Greek Orthodox Church will serve up an authentic dose of “filoxenia” (Greek hospitality and generosity of spirit) along with flavorful food, great music, dancing and pure fun. (Neighborhood: Lincoln Park)

Lollapalooza (July 31 – August 3, 2025) – One of Chicago’s most highly anticipated summer events, this genre-defying lineup is packed with the music industry’s biggest names, along with local favorites and emerging artists. The full Lollapalooza lineup features more than 170 musical acts across nine stages, with headliners such as Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler, the Creator, Sabrina Carpenter, Rüfüs du Sol, Luke Combs, A$AP Rocky, Gracie Abrams, and Doechii (Neighborhood: The Loop, Grant Park)

The 59th annual Midsommarfest (June 13-15, 2025) celebrates the Swedish heritage of Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood as well as its reputation for being one of Chicago’s largest LGBTQ+ communities. This year’s fest will feature the Balmoral Pride Stage, which showcases local drag queens, cabaret performers, DJs, and more. (Neighborhood: Andersonville)

Millennium Park Summer Film Series (Tuesdays, July 1 – August 26, 2025) – Every summer in Chicago, visitors and locals flock to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park to kick back, picnic, and watch free movies against the city’s iconic skyline. You can catch the Millennium Park Summer Film Series on Tuesday evenings all summer long. This year’s line-up includes blockbusters, award-winners, family classics, and cult favorites. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Millennium Park Summer Music Series (Mondays & Thursdays, June 26 – August 7, 2025) – The Millennium Park Summer Music Series features free outdoor concerts, showcasing a wide range of established and emerging musicians in a spectacular setting. Grab a seat or a spot on the lawn and enjoy views of the soaring Pritzker Pavilion overhead and the surrounding city skyline that lights up around you as dusk falls. This beloved series features artists from across genres, including R&B, house, disco, jazz, pop, country, alternative, and world music. Come see your favorite artists or discover someone new. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Navy Pier Fireworks (Wednesdays & Saturdays through August 30, 2025) – Navy Pier’s dazzling, free award-winning fireworks show is back for summer 2025. Get ready for unforgettable nights on the Pier with breathtaking views and a fireworks experience you won’t want to miss! (Neighborhood: Streeterville)

Old Town Art Fair (June 14-15, 2025) – Chicago’s Old Town Art Fair, the acclaimed Fine Art Fair led by the Old Town Triangle Association, is celebrating its 75th anniversary. This year’s Fair will be the most festive in its milestone 75-year history, attracting over 230 artists from across the country plus live music on two stages; an array of classic Chicago food and beverage options from local vendors; a dedicated Children’s Corner featuring interactive activities and crafts for kids; and the return of self-guided Garden Walks in over 50 gardens in the Old Town Triangle neighborhood. Annually, the Fair introduces artists to an estimated 30,000 art lovers over the course of the two-day event. (Neighborhood: Old Town)

Pride South Side (July 5, 2025) – Keep the party going and celebrate “The Right to Pride” at The DuSable Black History Museum in Washington Park. This annual event features performances, dancing, local vendors, and more. (Neighborhood: Washington Park)

Ribfest Chicago (June 6-8, 2025) – One of Chicago’s most iconic summer festivals is back and bigger than ever. Celebrating 25 years in North Center, Ribfest Chicago returns for a sizzling weekend of mouthwatering BBQ, live entertainment, and family fun. Whether you’re a BBQ connoisseur, a music lover, or just looking for an amazing weekend in Chicago, Ribfest Chicago 2025 is the place to be! (Neighborhood: North Center)

Third Coast Percussion (TCP), a GRAMMY® Award-winning Chicago-based percussion quartet and
GRAMMY®-nominated composer collective, will commemorate its 20th anniversary season with Rhythm Fest,
an epic one-day celebration on June 28, 2025, at Epiphany Center for the Arts. TCP will be joined by longtime friends, new collaborators, and percussion legends for performances, art installations, and family fun, culminating in a finale concert featuring TCP and an afterparty with live music. Performing artists in addition to the ensemble include Clarice Assad, Tyondai Braxton, Michael Burritt, Jlin, Jessie Montgomery, and more to be announced later this spring. (Neighborhood: West Loop)

Tacos and Tequila Festival (September 20, 2025) – Grab the crew and enjoy a night out kickin’ it at Northwestern Medicine Field with your favorite throwback artists, while chowing down on the area’s best chef-inspired taco vendors throughout the festival. Wash those tacos down with some margs and tequila. Throughout the day, there will be world-renowned hip-hop artists, including Ludacris and Timbaland; craft margaritas; tequila tasting lounge; locally crafted tacos; Lucha Libre wrestling; exotic car showcase; chihuahua beauty pageant; salsa and queso competition; art installations and photo ops; and more. (Geneva, IL)

Taste of Chicago (September 5-7, 2025) – Taste of Chicago has been a foodie staple for more than 40 years. This year, the annual food and music extravaganza will include the return of the iconic lakefront festival, alongside neighborhood pop-up events throughout the summer. The classic food festival will take over Grant Park with more than 35 of Chicago’s favorite food vendors, live music performances, community dance lessons, a karaoke competition, and so much more. (Multiple Neighborhoods)

Taste of Randolph (June 13-15, 2025) – Now in its 28th year, Taste of Randolph is Chicago’s premier street fest featuring the region’s best music and food. This year’s event will feature some of the city’s most popular food and beverage offerings from favorite venues like: After, Baked Cheese Haus, Black Barrel Tavern, Blue Agave Restaurant, Café Tola, Cone Gourmet Ice Cream, Forno Rosso, Gaijin, The Goddess & Grocer West Loop, HIDE + SEEK, Matcha Cita, Nicholas High Quality Meats, The Outpost Mexican Eatery, Pitaki, Porkchop, ROOP, and more. Experience live entertainment from global bands and DJs from Canada, the UK, U.S., and Chicagoland. (Neighborhood: West Loop)

Windy City Smokeout (July 10-13, 2025) – The nation’s premier outdoor country music and BBQ festival returns to Chicago’s iconic United Center for its 12th year. The star-studded weekend will feature country music’s biggest names, including Kane Brown, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Bailey Zimmerman, and Megan Moroney, along with an impressive roster of up-and-coming talent and over 25 of the best BBQ teams from across the country. In addition to the top performer in country music, the festival offers a selection of curated events, such as the “Biggest Happy Hour of the Summer” on Friday, July 11 and an epic “BBQ Brunch” on Sunday, July 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The bottomless BBQ Brunch will include a variety of dishes from the Windy City Smokeout’s Pitmaster Buffet, featuring a special Bacon Bar. Guests can sip mimosas and build their own Bloody Marys with all the fixings at the Bloody Mary Bar. (Neighborhood: West Side)

World Music Festival Chicago (September 26 – October 5, 2025) – The annual World Music Festival is your passport to musical acts from around the globe. This free, city-wide festival features over 31 artists from 16 countries at 11 venues around Chicago including the Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park, and Navy Pier. This festival, which has been held in Chicago for more than 20 years, embraces well-known stars and emerging artists in genres that range from traditional to contemporary. You can hear everything at the World Music Festival — from Indian classical music to Bulgarian bagpipes and Congolese funk. (Multiple Neighborhoods)

Attractions:

AIRE Ancient Baths Chicago has undergone a spring refresh. The facility’s lobby and locker rooms have been thoughtfully remodeled, maintaining the building’s historic charm while providing modern comforts. The locker rooms are fully equipped with showers, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, towels, hair products, and deodorant. AIRE also offers premium Dyson hairstyling tools for all guests ensuring a seamless and rejuvenating experience. Additionally, a new Argan Foam Ritual, a 135-minute sensory journey, is now available. Rooted in Mediterranean traditions, the ritual begins with a soothing foaming massage atop a warm marble bed, where argan oil-infused foam hydrates and softens skin. A 45-minute full body massage with aromatic argan oil infused with fresh scent, along with a facial massage using cooling jade rollers and a tension-relieving scalp massage. Set in AIRE’s signature candlelit atmosphere, this deeply restorative experience will leave your skin hydrated and nourished. (Neighborhood: West Town)

AR-chitecture: Unlocking the Magnificent Mile’s Hidden Gems offers a captivating new way to explore the history and architecture of one of Chicago’s most iconic avenues. Launched by The Magnificent Mile Association, this virtual reality experience brings the Avenue’s architectural heritage to life with narrated journeys led by legendary journalist and news anchor Bill Kurtis. The experience begins with two locations:
Tribune Tower and DuSable Bridge. Three additional locations are set to launch in the coming months, including the Wrigley Building, Water Tower Place, and 875 North Michigan Avenue. Each site will feature interactive games, trivia, and opportunities to uncover hidden historic gems. AR-chitecture is a must-see for architecture enthusiasts and history buffs, adding an engaging, tech-forward dimension to The Magnificent Mile’s visitor experience. (Neighborhood: Magnificent Mile)

DS Luxury offers the city’s first-ever guided tours in exotic cars—think Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Bentley, and more. This high-gloss experience blends thrill with elegance as guests explore iconic streets from the driver’s seat of the world’s most coveted vehicles. Whether you’re gliding past the skyline on Lake Shore Drive or cruising through the Gold Coast in a convertible supercar, DS Luxury’s private guided city tours are crafted for those who want more than just a view—they want the feeling of horsepower, heritage, and high style. The experience continues inside their car gallery, where guests can book photo sessions with a rotating lineup of luxury vehicles in a studio built for the spotlight. Beyond tours, DS Luxury also offers daily rentals, private driver services, and yearly memberships for those who want to bring this lifestyle into their everyday life. (Neighborhood: West Side)

Electric Shuffle, the innovative social entertainment brand blending high-tech shuffleboard with craft cocktails
and elevated dining, opened its first Chicago location in the vibrant River North neighborhood in May 2025. Located at 448 North La Salle, Electric Shuffle Chicago’s 7,000 square foot space offers a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience where guests can enjoy high-energy gameplay on custom-built shuffleboard tables equipped with proprietary technology, perfect for everything from group gatherings to competitive fun. At Electric Shuffle Chicago, guests can experience the thrill of the game in an immersive environment, featuring sleek shuffleboard tables with digital scoring, interactive gameplay, and the opportunity to share moments through live replays. The venue also offers a variety of elevated food and drink options, including shareable dishes, signature cocktails, and a selection of craft beers. The space also features a full-service bar, lounge areas perfect for socializing, and an atmosphere that invites guests to gather, relax, and celebrate. (Neighborhood: River North)

Fashion Outlets of Chicago has launched a new self-guided walking tour of THE COLLECTION: Where Art Meets Fashion, its multifaceted contemporary art program. Featuring QR codes on each artwork’s placard, the walking tour invites shoppers to hear directly from the artists themselves through individual videos offering personal insight into the inspiration, process and story behind their work. The interactive walking tour encompasses THE COLLECTION’s 25 permanent large-scale installations, which features works by some of the world’s most recognizable visual artists, including Hebru Brantley, Daniel Arsham, Derrick Adams, Carlos Rolón Dzine, Candida Alvarez, Jen Stark, Matthew Hoffman, and many more. (Rosemont, IL)

Summer of SUE celebrates 25 years of SUE the T. rex at the Field Museum with dino-mite events all summer long. From May through September, the Field Museum is stomping its way through Chicago. Spot SUE in the museum, around town, and online to celebrate SUE’s quarter Epoch crisis in style. There will be events for all ages, 6 months to 67 million years to get in on the action. (Neighborhood: Museum Campus)

• PlayLab Storytime: Celebrating 25 years of SUE (June 4, July 2, and August 6, 2025) – Families with 2-6-year-olds are invited to a free, drop-in storytime celebrating SUE the Tyrannosaurus rex. The Field Museum’s beloved T. rex, SUE was first exhibited to guests 25 years ago on May 17, 2000! Join us for an interactive read aloud, celebrating SUE, the most complete adult T. rex ever discovered.
• DINOPALOOZA & DINO DERBY (June 7, 2025) – Dinopalooza is back and bigger than ever! Come celebrate SUE at this Museum-wide dinosaur extravaganza featuring Field scientists sharing their work, paleoart crafts, face painting, special tours, and so much more! This year the Field Museum is partnering with iHeart Radio to bring Dino Derby to Dinopalooza on the Museum’s North Lawn! Dino Derby is a foot race for SUE wanna-bes to see who can win the title of SUEpreme speedster and epic prizes.
• Meet a Scientist: Summer of SUE with Akiko Shinya and Connie Van Beek (June 13, 2025) – The Art of Fossil Preparation: Archaeopteryx is closing on June 25. This Meet a Scientist will highlight the work of Field Fossil Preparators Akiko Shinya and Connie Van Beak. Both worked on the preparation of SUE and the Chicago Archaeopteryx. Together they will highlight the similarities and differences in preparing these two iconic fossils at the Field.
• Meet a Scientist: Summer of SUE with Bill Simpson (July 11, 2025) – Collections Manager of Fossil Vertebrates Bill Simpson and SUE go way back. Way back to 1997, that is, as a part of the team that worked to decide if the Field Museum was going to bid on the T. rex specimen at Sotheby’s auction. At this Meet a Scientist, Bill will be discussing the acquisition, study and mounting of SUE – the greatest T. rex ever found.
• Party Like It’s SUE-thousand at Beauty Bar (July 18, 2025) – Ain’t no party like a T.rex party, because a T.rex party lasts 67 million years! Join the Field Museum at Beauty Bar (1444 W Chicago Ave.) on Friday, July 18 from 7:30 p.m to 9:00 p.m. for a night of non-stop 2000s jams. It’s social with a side of science! Stop by for a drink, a dance, and chat with Field Paleontologists about all of the incredible science they do at the museum. No ticket required; this event is for adults 21+.
• Meet a Scientist: Summer of SUE with Dr. Jingmai O’Conner (August 8, 2025) – SUE the T. rex dealt with some serious injuries – from a gash in their leg received during a dino brawl, to broken ribs and an arthritic spine. The fearsome T. rex had their share of aches and pains. One such injury has been a mystery to scientists: a series of holes that dot the dinosaur’s jaw. At this Meet a Scientist, Dr. Jingmai O’Conner will be discussing the mystery of the holes in SUE’s jaw and what could have caused them.
• Party Like It’s SUE-thousand at Easy Does It (August 15, 2025) – Ain’t no party like a T. rex party, because a T. rex party lasts 67 million years! Join the Field Museum at Easy Does It (2354 N Milwaukee Ave.) on Friday, August 15 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for a night of non-stop 2000s jams. It’s social with a side of science! Stop by for a drink, a dance, and the chat with Field Paleontologists about all of the incredible science they do at the Field. No ticket required for entry; this event is for adults 21+.
• SUE’s UnEarthday Sleepover: Dozin’ with the Dinos (September 5-6, 2025) – Come celebrate SUE’s special day at their sleepover UnEarthday party! This special Dozin’ with the Dinos is the final Summer of SUE celebration and is sure to be a night to remember. Stay up late with scientists as the Field Museum comes to life in games, challenges, and stories throughout the night.

Fly Heli Tours has officially launched the Chicago Loop Helicopter Tour, offering locals and visitors alike a stunning, sky-high perspective of the city’s most iconic landmarks — all from the excitement of a smooth, expertly guided helicopter ride. The Chicago Loop Tour isn’t just another tourist activity—it offers a fun-fueled joyride through the most iconic parts of the city. It’s for people who want to feel something, who want to see Chicago from a whole new angle—literally. Whether you’re planning a date, hosting out-of-town friends, or simply checking off a bucket-list experience, the Chicago Loop Helicopter Tour is your VIP ticket to jaw-dropping views and unforgettable moments that will be remembered for a lifetime. (Neighborhood: West Side)

The world’s largest magic venue, The Hand & The Eye (100 E. Ontario Street), will open its doors in Spring 2026. Set within the walls of the McCormick Mansion and masterfully designed and reimagined by Chicago native David Rockwell and his global award-winning architecture and design firm Rockwell Group, this groundbreaking venue, a home away from home for magicians from around the world, promises an experience where guests don’t simply watch the magic, but are a part of it. With reverence to the Chicago style close-up magic traditions of the past, made famous by the likes of Matt Schulien, every night is unique, and exploring the thirty-seven room, multi-floor mansion is an experience all its own. Together, some of the great minds of magic have created a curated tour through the history of close-up magic that includes something truly special, personal, and entirely new. (Neighborhood: River North)

Harry Potter Shop Chicago, located at 676 N. Michigan Avenue (below the Omni Hotel Chicago), opened in April 2025. Nestled among Chicago’s historic architecture and bustling shopping district, the store is filled with an array of themed areas, exclusive merchandise, props, and a Butterbeer Bar, offering locals and visitors a truly immersive experience at every turn. Before even stepping foot into Harry Potter Shop Chicago, the magic begins! Fans, locals, and tourists walking on Michigan Avenue will be captivated by the store’s elegant exterior that pays homage to the city’s bold architectural spirit. Once inside, the store’s design leans into themes of resilience and rebirth seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Guests are welcomed by a moving mermaid-stained glass window, inspired by the window in the Prefects’ bathroom at Hogwarts, as well as the iconic Golden Egg transporting fans straight into scenes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Visitors making their way through the store, will discover enchanting, themed areas, giving every wizard, witch, and Muggle something to enjoy! (Neighborhood: Magnificent Mile)

Navy Pier Marina, the newest boating destination on Lake Michigan, is set to open in June 2025. The only marina to offer transient boaters access to Navy Pier and the city at its doorstep, Navy Pier Marina will provide a home in the heart of Chicago for boaters from across the city and suburbs, and around the Great Lakes. It will also be a rendezvous for boating groups seeking unique and modern mooring facilities. The marina will offer lunch and dinner hourly tie-ups as well as overnight and extended stays. Broadside (side-tie) mooring for vessels up to 183 feet in length will be available on modern floating piers. Marina amenities include an easy-to-use online reservation system and concierge-quality service, along with power and water hookups, Wi-Fi, and pump-out service. A unique two-story boater amenities building will house the marina office, ship’s store, restrooms, showers, boater’s lounge, on-site laundry, bicycle repair station, and pet-friendly relief station. (Neighborhood: Navy Pier)

Night Out in the Parks activates parks across the city with robust cultural events – bringing neighbors together to laugh, dance, sing, and engage. The Chicago Park District, in partnership with 100 local artists and organizations, presents engaging events and performances to amplify the artistic and cultural vibrancy of our city in every neighborhood and enhance quality of life across Chicago. Through theater, music, movies, dance, site-specific performances, nature programs, and community festivals, the series supports Chicago-based artists, facilitates community-based partnerships and programs, cultivates civic engagement, and ensures equity in access to the arts for all Chicagoans. Highlights of the event lineup include Movies in the Park (June 10 – September 6, 2025), 773 Dance Project: Heft Into Wonder (July 25, 2025), and Lookingglass Theater Company: Ice Cream Circus (August 17-24, 2025).

Shedd Aquarium has an exciting lineup of events and offerings planned for the summer season: (Neighborhood: South Loop)

• Jazzin’ at the Shedd (Wednesdays through August 27, 2025) – Live jazz revels at Shedd Aquarium! Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the popular midweek Jazzin’ at the Shedd series, which showcases a festival-worthy lineup of Chicago’s top jazz ensembles.
• Kayak for Conservation (Fridays & Saturdays, June-September 2025) – Discover the biodiversity of the Chicago River, immerse yourself in nature and get some exercise outdoors with Kayak for Conservation tours. Participants paddle on the Chicago River and learn about innovative efforts to improve the health and habitats of the Chicago River for wildlife and how everyone can get involved in protecting this critical resource. There’s also the possibility of encountering local wildlife like soft-shell turtles, common snapping turtles, great blue herons, kingfishers, monarch butterflies and more – all while enjoying beautiful views of the city.
• Pride Night (June 14, 2025) – Join Shedd Aquarium and A Queer Pride in celebrating our vibrant and creative LGBTQ+ community! Kick off Pride Month festivities in style with a memorable Pride Night at Shedd featuring multiple DJs and an ocean-themed drag showcase.
• Ritmo del Mar (June 21, July 12, and August 16, 2025) – Enjoy a night of music, cuisine, culture, and mesmerizing animals with an aquatic backdrop like nowhere else in Chicago. Dance to the sounds of salsa, cumbia, merengue and Latin jazz. Ages 21+.
• House Party (July 19, 2025) – Jellyfish pulse, sea horses sway and guests vibe to the beats at Shedd’s House Party. In the city that built house music, attendees can experience a one-of-a-kind adults-only night of dancing and exploring the aquarium’s exhibits, from bright corals to massive arapaima and everything in between. Ages 21+.

Sloomoo Institute presents Sloomooversity: Science of Slime Workshops. These new, hour-long classes are full of fun so that you can perfect each and every texture. Separate from Sloomoo Institute’s experience tickets, the classes are in playful private rooms, where participants begin with Elmer’s glue and end with epic slime. Classes cover how molecules of glue bind together, slime care 101, and supply all of the ingredients. The class syllabus will change regularly, so there are new opportunities to create every texture. There may even be some dancing. Earn your degree and receive a Certified Slimer badge of excellence. (Neighborhood: North Side)

Teatro ZinZanni is thrilled to announce its new series, Club ZinZanni. This series will run in conjunction with TZ’s signature show and highlight the best of Chicago, national, and international talent – from music to drag to comedy to magic to cirque, Club ZinZanni will bring it all to this great city. All events will take place in Teatro ZinZanni’s antique Spiegeltent on the 14th floor of the Cambria Hotel with food and refreshments available for most shows. In addition, two of Teatro ZinZanni’s celebrated stars return to the stage for headlining performances this summer. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

• Frank Ferrante’s Groucho (June 11, 2025, 7:00 p.m.) – Award-winning actor and longtime ZinZanni favorite Frank Ferrante reprises his iconic portrayal of Groucho Marx in this acclaimed two-act comedy. With over 3,000 performances across 500+ cities over 40 years, Ferrante’s Groucho is not only critically celebrated but personally endorsed by the Marx family. Stay for the post-show Q&A moderated by the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones.
• LiV Warfield Center Stage: Purple Frequency (June 25, 2025, 7:00 p.m.) – Powerhouse vocalist and international sensation LiV Warfield kicks off a summer concert series with “Purple Frequency,” a fierce and soulful tribute to the one and only Prince. LiV Warfield: Center Stage features Warfield fronting a supergroup with members of Prince’s legendary New Power Generation and Minneapolis icons Mint Condition: Tommy Barbarella (keys), Mike Scott (guitar), Rick (bass, Mint Condition), and Brandon Commodore (drums).

Victory Cruise Lines, committed to all-inclusive, small ship, coastal cruising on The Great Lakes and Canadian Coasts, is partnering with the National Museum of the Great Lakes to develop a LakeLorian® program beginning with the 2025 season. The LakeLorian will lead lectures, host discussions, and answer questions throughout the journey across these mighty bodies of freshwater. The LakeLorian will share insights and enlighten guests on the uniqueness of each port in the Great Lakes and be a welcomed storyteller of the region, versed in its history and the support of The National Museum of the Great Lakes for expertise. The LakeLorian will hold daily Lake Chats in The Tavern or The Compass Lounge to provide information about the town or city in which Victory Cruise Lines is visiting for the day. In addition to the daily lectures, each sailing will feature an exclusive lecture highlighting a current exhibit at The National Museum of the Great Lakes.

Meetings, Conventions, & Venues:

Destinations International 2025 Annual Convention will be held at McCormick Place from July 9-11, 2025. The convention is a major event for destination organizations and professionals, focusing on industry trends, best practices, and networking opportunities. (Neighborhood: South Side)

IFT FIRST, the largest global food science and innovation expo, is coming to McCormick Place July 13-16, 2025. Connect with innovators, decision-makers, and solution providers across every sector of food science and technology—all in one highly-engaged environment. (Neighborhood: South Side)

Chicago will host the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW, the world’s leading inbound travel trade show from June 14-18, 2025, at McCormick Place. Attendees will enjoy the best of Chicago hospitality with a press brunch at Wrigley Field, an opening night party at the Field Museum, a closing celebration at Navy Pier and immersive tours throughout the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods. The last time Chicago hosted the show was in 2014. (Neighborhood: South Side)

The Obama Presidential Center – Covering 19 acres, the campus will include a fruit and vegetable garden, an athletic facility for programs and events, a premier museum, an auditorium, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, and additional amenities. The programming will encourage visitors, whether local or international, to carry the impact of their experience with them. The full campus is currently set to open early 2026. (Neighborhood: Hyde Park)

Theatre & Performing Arts:

The Auditorium presents One Weekend, Two Classic Films in Concert: The Terminator in Concert (June 13, 2025) and Toy Story 30th Anniversary in Concert (June 14, 2025). Celebrate Father’s Day weekend with back-to-back classic films performed live-to-screen by the Chicago Philharmonic. On Friday night, Experience the groundbreaking, cult classic The Terminator on a vast HD screen while Brad Fiedel’s signature synthesizer-led, percussive score is performed live with the Chicago Philharmonic for the first time in-sync with the 1984 motion picture. Then, on Saturday afternoon, you’ll be back at The Auditorium with the whole family to go to infinity and beyond. Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the heart-warming classic Toy Story screened in HD while the Chicago Philharmonic performs the joyful score. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Broadway In Chicago is proud to produce the following shows as part of its summer/fall lineup.
(Neighborhood: The Loop):

• Tina – The Tina Turner Musical (playing June 3-8, 2025, at Cadillac Palace Theatre) – An uplifting comeback story like no other, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters. One of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, Tina Turner won 12 Grammy Awards and her live shows were seen by millions, with more concert tickets sold than any other solo performer in music history. Featuring her much loved songs, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall.
• Kimberly Akimbo (playing June 10-22, 2025, at CIBC Theatre) – A new musical about growing up and growing old (in no particular order), KIMBERLY AKIMBO is the winner of 5 Tony Awards including best musical. Kimberly is about to turn 16 and recently moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey. In this “howlingly funny heartbreaker of a show” (The New Yorker), Kim is forced to navigate family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her first crush … and possible felony charges. Ever the optimist, she is determined to find happiness against all odds and embark on a great adventure.
• Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (playing July 9 – August 2, 2025, at Cadillac Palace Theatre) – Be Our Guest at Disney’s newly reimagined 30th Anniversary production of Beauty and the Beast, the breathtaking musical filled with the romance and grandeur audiences know and love. This enchanting and timeless tale has been brought to life like never before, with spectacular new sets and dazzling costumes. The show boasts the Oscar®-winning and Tony Award®-nominated score, including the classic songs “Be Our Guest” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
• Parade (playing August 5-17, 2025, at CIBC Theatre) – Winner of the 2023 Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Musical, Parade has been proclaimed as “a work of art! As commanding as any musical revival to hit Broadway in years” (Deadline). Leo and Lucille Frank are a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in the old red hills of Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. Riveting and gloriously hopeful, Parade reminds us that to love, we must truly see one another.

Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago’s foremost producer of new and reimagined opera, proudly announces She Who Dared (June 3, 6, and 8, 2025). Everyone has heard of Rosa Parks, but she wasn’t the first to refuse to move. She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950s. These civil rights pioneers pay homage to the quiet struggle for justice that has often gone unknown – further amplifying the effects of the historic case of Browder v. Gayle. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, these women demonstrate how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change – if only they dare. She Who Dared will feature sopranos Jasmine Habersham, Jacqueline Echols, Lindsey Reynolds, and mezzo sopranos Chrystal E. Williams, Deborah Nansteel, Leah Dexter, and Cierra Byrd. Conductor Michael Ellis Ingram and director Timothy Douglas make their COT debuts at the helm of the world premiere production. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Chicago Shakespeare Theater will present the North American premiere of 42 Balloons (through June 29, 2025), a new musical with an irresistible 80s-inspired pop score from the award‑winning producers of SIX. Inspired by the unbelievable true story of how Larry Walters and his partner Carol Van Deusen rallied their friends and family to help them reach new heights, this musical tells the story of how truck driver Larry defied all odds (and FAA airspace regulations) to fly 16,000 feet over Los Angeles with a lawn chair and about42 helium-filled weather balloons. (Neighborhood: Streeterville)

Concert Theatre Works, the internationally renowned company bringing new audiences to classical
music by combining music with vibrant storytelling, presents the Chicago premiere of its popular touring
production Secret Byrd (June 20-21, 2025) at Salvage One. Secret Byrd invites audiences to step back in time to 16th century England and participate in a clandestine worship service where a group of Catholics gather in secret to maintain their religious practices despite the illegality of their faith. Showcasing William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices sung by The Gesualdo Six – a British ensemble best known for its interpretation of Renaissance polyphony – and accompanied by local viol consorts ViolMedium and Second City Musick, the fully immersive, candlelit experience promises to engage all five senses. Audiences are invited to listen to the music, move through the space, interact with the historically-accurate props, and consume bread and wine during the communion portion of the mass. (Neighborhood: West Town)

Drury Lane Theatre will present the following productions (Neighborhood: Oakbrook, IL):

• Always Patsy Cline (June 11 – August 3, 2025) – Featuring 27 of Patsy Cline’s biggest hits, this is the ultimate love letter to one of the most celebrated and influential performers of the 20th century.
• Dial M for Murder (September 3 – October 26, 2025) – An affair, a fortune on the line, and the perfect murder…But what happens when it all goes wrong? Find out in this riveting new adaptation.

Lookingglass Theatre, following an 18-month hiatus, proudly returned to its newly renovated event space and beloved Joan & Paul Theatre at the historic Water Tower Water Works. With new theatre leadership, the new business model will focus on producing two shows a year as well as building co-production relationships with other theatres, offering more educational programs, and expanding the company’s scene shop. It will close out the 2024/2025 season with Iraq, But Funny (through July 20, 2025), a raucous satire about five generations of Assyrian women reclaiming their stories from the Ottoman Empire to modern day U.S.A., exploring history, family, and dysfunction. (Neighborhood: Streeterville)

The Joffrey Ballet celebrates its 70th anniversary as one of the world’s most sensational dance companies and 30 years of calling Chicago home with these productions (Neighborhood: The Loop):

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (June 5–22, 2025) – Plunge down the rabbit hole into the fantastical world of Wonderland as two-time Tony Award®-winner Christopher Wheeldon brings Lewis Carroll’s whimsical adventure to the stage with a modern twist. Immersed within Joby Talbot’s hallucinatory sound world of sweeping melodies and ticking clocks, with Tony Award®-winning designer Bob Crowley’s vibrant stagecraft and puppetry, Wheeldon makes Wonderland wonderfully real in this audience-favorite dance adventure. Things get curiouser and curiouser as Alice traverses a mysterious realm of instantly recognizable characters: the high-strung Queen of Hearts, the entrancing Caterpillar, and the tap-dancing Mad Hatter at his bizarre tea party. Lose your head in a seamless fusion of humor, eccentricity, and fantasy as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland takes you on a magical trip through the extraordinary.
• Carmen (September 18-28, 2025) – From the choreographer of the critically acclaimed Frankenstein, the Joffrey presents the U.S. premiere of Liam Scarlett’s Carmen, a tale of love, betrayal, and defiance set within the gritty confines of a cigarette factory in 1930s Spain. Amid the chaos of a nation on the brink of civil war, the uncompromising and seductive Carmen, who insists on loving whom she chooses, meets Don José, whose consuming devotion ignites a blaze of passion and peril. In this adaptation of Bizet’s opera, Scarlett brings new intensity to a performance that pulsates with life—and ends in tragedy. With striking designs by Jon Bausor and Scarlett’s signature focus on evocative storytelling, Carmen commands the stage into a tempest of desire and destruction, revealing the timeless story of a woman who dares to live on her own terms.

Lyric Opera of Chicago opens the 2025-2026 with these productions (Neighborhood: The Loop):

• Medea (October 11-26, 2025) – Euripides’s millennia-old tragedy comes to life — and gruesome death — in this presentation of acclaimed director Sir David McVicar’s iconic, grand-scale production. Featuring Lyric’s own Music Director Enrique Mazzola on the podium, this intense spectacle stars international powerhouse soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in one of the fiercest, most demanding roles ever written. She shares the stage with equally formidable tenor — and Lyric favorite — Matthew Polenzani.
• Coco in Concert Live to Film (October 16-18, 2025) – Join Lyric for Disney and Pixar’s Coco in Concert Live to Film, the story of Miguel, a young boy who dreams of being an accomplished musician, despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music. When Miguel finds himself on an extraordinary journey in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead, he learns about the strength of family bonds, finding yourself, and the power of music. Experience this Oscar®-winning film for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Remember Me,” with its vibrant musical score by Oscar® and Grammy®-winning composer Michael Giacchino performed live!
• Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci (November 1-23, 2025) – This duo of passionate one-act operas explores the depths of spurned lovers’ grief and the lengths they’ll go to in avenging betrayal. Deadly love triangles unfold against starkly contrasted backdrops of an idyllic Sicilian countryside and a chaotic urban center. Music Director Enrique Mazzola leads a world-class cast that includes Lyric favorites Russell Thomas, Quinn Kelsey, and Gabriella Reyes in Elijah Moshinsky’s original production. With two shorter operas in a single performance, this is a perfect sampler for new opera goers.
• Carmina Burana (November 14-18, 2025) – For three performances only, Enrique Mazzola leads the celebrated Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus in Carmina Burana, the sweeping cantata based on 24 medieval poems. Lyric’s talented musicians bring this masterpiece to life in all its visceral dimensions, from sotto voce choral staccatos to bombastic crashes of brass.
• A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness (November 21-30, 2025) – Billy Corgan achieved stratospheric fame as the founder, frontman, and creative force behind the legendary Smashing Pumpkins. A Grammy winner whose powerful songwriting, commanding vocals, and inventive melodies were the foundation for the massive, decade-defining double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Corgan now teams up with Lyric Opera of Chicago, his hometown company, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this groundbreaking album with his signature boundary-pushing, innovation, and imagination.

Nova Linea Musica will present its season finale, Chicago! (June 4, 2025), at Guarneri Hall. This concert features a Nova Linea Musica commission and World Premiere by Chicago’s own Shawn Okpebholo for Solo Violin written for Rabia Brooke. The Chicago-grown trio In Triplicate (Jasmine Lin, Clancy Newman, and Nate Farrington) brings their compositional prowess to the stage with works developed and arranged by the artists. Concert Pianist Clare Longendyke mesmerizes us with Chicago’s composers in Augusta Read Thomas’ Traces and Shawn Okpebholo’s mi-sueno: afro flamenco at the keyboard. (Neighborhood: The Loop)

Pegasus Theatre Chicago presents Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery (through June 15, 2025). Pegasus will honor playwright Shay Youngblood by mounting a new production of its 2017 hit. Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery is the story of a young black girl’s coming-of-age in 1960’s Georgia. “Daughter,” the main character, has lost her mother to racial tragedy. A community of women step up to raise her, some blood-related, some not. As the adult Daughter recalls her “Big Mamas” preparing her for womanhood, the women enter to tell their stories while the child relives vivid memories of growing up–recalling the rituals, faith healings, and stories she was told and the lessons she learned about survival, healing, deep faith, and mystery. (Neighborhood: West Town)

Sports:

HYROX World Championship (June 12-14, 2025) – The best athletes from around the globe will gather at Navy Pier to compete in running and workout challenges. The HYROX competition features a 1km run followed by a workout station including the sled push, wall ball, farmers carry, and rowing- repeated eight times. Enjoy Navy Pier and everything else Chicago offers in the summertime alongside intense competition from the world’s best athletes. (Neighborhood: Streeterville)

NASCAR Chicago Street Race – The NASCAR Chicago Street Race will return with the third edition of this exhilarating event July 5-6, 2025, in Grant Park. In 2024, the street race saw an economic impact of $128M, an increase of 17% over 2023, and $43.6M in media value for Chicago, which was beautifully showcased throughout the weekend. Mark your calendars now, and keep your eyes peeled for updates on ticket sales, musical lineup details, and more! (Neighborhood: Grant Park)

AVP Heritage Open – Don’t miss this Labor Day weekend classic – the AVP Heritage Open! The best of the best in beach volleyball, including medalists from the 2024 Paris Olympics, will hit the sands of Oak Street Beach, August 29-31, 2025. General admission is free! Bring the family and spend the weekend in Chicago, the Best Big City in the US for the 8th year in a row! (Neighborhood: North Side)

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About Choose Chicago:

Choose Chicago is the official sales and marketing organization responsible for promoting Chicago as a global visitor and meetings destination, leveraging the city’s unmatched assets to ensure the economic vitality of the city, its residents and our partner business community. Follow @choosechicago on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X/Twitter. For more information, visit choosechicago.com.