The below-zero temps are behind us and the rain is here making our beautiful city a little damp. Let's make the best of what we got and discover something fun this weekend! There are plenty of markets, shows, and food ready to wow you this weekend! Grab your heavy coat and put on your mask (since COVID numbers are unfortunately rising) and enjoy!
Now, let's get on with your Chicago Curated Weekend!
- Support Local Venues
- Kingston Mines
- Fitzgerald's
- Evanston Space
- Head over to the Hideout's regular shop and get yourself some great merch! Their 2020 Holiday Sale page is also still up with links to great local artists!
- Metro shop is full of fantastic concert posters from yesteryear and cool merch
- Lincoln Hall/Schubas always has great items in their shop waiting for you!
- Same goes for Thalia Hall's merch store
- Let's not forget Empty Bottle's fantastic merch shop!
ART GALLERIES & SPECIAL EVENTS
- All Star Press is constantly putting up new prints for you to decorate your space with! RIGHT NOW they are showing Breaking the Bank: Solo Show by E.LEE & Friends ! Plus you can check out some of their prints from their Vertical Gallery collab, which you can purchase here!! There is also a virtual gallery featuring all the works! You can also see "Saturday Morning Fever” featuring the works of Griffin Goodman through their virtual gallery! And don't forget to check out the virtual edition of JC Rivera's new exhibition "Still Undefeated" ! Or the All Decked Out virtual show!
- Chicago Gamespace is the perfect spot to check out the hairy present and future of the gaming realm! Currently they are showing @!#?@!: the Art, Design and Sound of Q*bert
- Galerie F has a fun stock of prints from concert posters, pop culture prints and more!
- Rotofugi is the perfect nexus of art and toys! Head over to see what new pieces of art they have in stocks and on display in their gallery space!
- WNDR Museum is an ever-evolving immersive art and technology experience designed to ignite your curiosity! See exhibits like the Light Floor, Try to Get Higher, and the Digital Gallery. Plus Keith Haring!
- Garfield Park Conservatory is open! Book a reservation to see all the beautiful gardens safely!
- Lincoln Park Conservatory is open! Book a reservation to see all the beautiful gardens safely
- “Mold-A-Rama™: Molded for the Future” @ Museum of Science and Industry
- Art on the Mart
- NOW - 3/31 Teeny ,Tiny, Tropical Bar
- NOW - 3/24 Downton Abbey: The Exhibition
- NOW - 3/17 Disney100: The Exhibition
SPECIAL WINTER EVENTS
- NOW - 1/28 Rudolph's Rooftop at LondonHouse Chicago
- NOW - 1/28 Ice Skating at Rosemont's Parkway Bank Park
- NOW - 3/3 Ice Skating in Millennium Park
- NOW - 3/10 Ice Skating at Maggie Daley Park
- NOW - 2/17 Polar Adventure Days @ Big Marsh Park
THIS WEEKEND ONLY
FRIDAY - SUNDAY, JANUARY 26-28 (& BEYOND)
The Neo-Futurists’ The Infinite Wrench @ The Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N Ashland, Friday and Saturday 10:30pm, Sunday 7:00pm, 16+
WHAT: Quick plays live and online!
SO WHAT: The Neo-Futurists are back ! Their Infinite Wrench is an ongoing, ever-changing attempt to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes for a live audience. Now it’s actually a live audience that will be enjoying the performance in person!
NOW WHAT: Join the Neo-Futurists this weekend for $20! The Infinite Wrench Goes Viral will be continuing til February (and possibly beyond) over at their Patreon
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27
23rd Annual Polar Plunge, hosted by the Chicago Polar Bear Club @ Oak Street Beach, 11am-1pm, all ages
WHAT: A chilly fundraiser
SO WHAT: Another year, another plunge in the icy waters of Lake Michigan! This annual plunge to raise money for families in need is back and whether you're diving in head first or watching on the fringes, it's a great winter event for a good cause!
NOW WHAT: Head over to their website to buy tickets and/or donate to help the four local families they are fundraising for!
Navy Pier Winter Disco @ Navy Pier Beer Garden, 600 E. Grand Ave , 7pm-11pm
WHAT: A new party at the Pier
SO WHAT: "A Party Called Tribe" is bringing a winter disco to Navy Pier's Beer Garden for four hours of dancing and fun. DJs on hand will include M-dok, Syko, Ceasedays, J. Star and special musical guests Club Crib Ent.!
NOW WHAT: It's free to attend! Keep an eye on their event page for more details!
SUNDAY, JANUARY 28
Hyde Park Handmade Artisan Bazaar @ The Promontory, 5311 S Lake Park Ave, 10am-3pm All ages
WHAT: Hyde Park Handmade is an indoor market featuring makers from all over Chicago's south side!
SO WHAT: This monthly free-to-attend market is the perfect family-friendly event to do some fun shopping. It's a unique shopping experience with returning and new vendors selling a variety of wares, lounge areas to relax between shopping sessions, workshops, and DJ Sean Alvarez spinning some tunes!
NOW WHAT: It's free to attend!
THE WHOLE CURATED WEEKEND & BEYOND
Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival @ Various Locations, Various Times
WHAT: Discover the world of puppetry over this weekend!
SO WHAT: Add a little something different to your weekend plans as the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival makes its way all over town. Check out a variety of shows, experiences, and workshops throughout town and home letting audiences immerse themselves in a world of puppets. Special events like neighborhood tours and the The Puppet Hub will be great multi-day highlights! Check out this weekend's lineup below and the rest of the festival's schedule at their website !
NOW WHAT: You can find full ticket info in the links above or on the festival website!
Chicago Restaurant Week 2024 @ Various Restaurants, Various Times
WHAT: The 17th annual culinary celebration!
SO WHAT: Over 350 restaurants will take part in Restaurant Week (which is actually 17 days long!), letting everyone have a taste of Chicago’s restaurant scene from Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese and more! You can feast on delicious multi-course menus all across the city and suburbs. You can find all the participating restaurants on the Restaurant Week website!
NOW WHAT: These multi-course meals are $25 for brunch or lunch, and $42 or $59 for dinner (excluding beverages, tax, gratuity, and delivery fees).
Weekend Shows @ Lincoln Hall & Schubas, 2424 N Lincoln Ave & 3159 N Southport Ave, various times, 18+
WHAT: A full weekend of amazing shows at Schubas and Lincoln Hall!
SO WHAT: Lincoln Hall and Schubas are some of our favorite venues in the city and they always have something great going on. Check out what's going this weekend at these great venues
- January 25- Schubas Open Mic HOSTED BY SUZ BALLOUT, SHARRON PALM, and SAM SELBY @ Schubas
- January 25- 100% OFF PRESENTS: Billy Joel Jr. daarling Sweet Hudson @ Schubas
- January 25- Armand Hammer + Quelle Chris @ Lincoln Hall
- January 26- Meet Me Upstairs Presents: Commotion + Drumset + PDCKev@ Schubas
- January 26- 2Hollis @ Lincoln Hall
- January 26 - Engine Summer Album Release Show Discus + Modern Cults @ Schubas
- January 27 - Juice + The Hails @ Lincoln Hall
- January 27 - Lunar Ash Record Release Show + Frankie Master + Park Hills Circle @ Schubas
- January 28 -100% OFF PRESENTS: Lake Soda + HEAD + Contorno @ Schubas
NOW WHAT: Head out to Schubas & Lincoln Hall and enjoy this great lineup of shows!
Movies on the Big Screen and Home @ Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport Ave, various times
WHAT: A great way to support a great local theater
SO WHAT: The Music Box Theatre is ready to fill that art house need in you with some excellent movies including All of Us Strangers, The Teachers' Lounge, another entry in the Hitchcock and Friends series, Blonde Death Introduced by Joe Ziemba and Annie Choi of Bleeding Skull, midnight screenings of Cowboy Bebop: The Movie & Stop Making Sense and more!
NOW WHAT: Sit back and enjoy a new film at one of our favorite movie theatres in the city!
Chicago Humanities: New Talks and Video Archives @ Various Locations & Chicago Humanities Festival YouTube channel, your favorite browser or YouTube app, any time you want some inspiration, All Ages
WHAT: Interesting conversations with interesting people!
SO WHAT: Chicago Humanities Festival always brings some of the best ideas to the surface with entertaining programming that captures your imagination. Their year may be over, but certainly be on the lookout for updates for next year's season as their website is constantly updated with new talks.
NOW WHAT: Head over to take a look at their past events here! You should also sign up for their email list to get updates on upcoming talks in 2023
University of Chicago Folk Festival @ Your favorite spot in your home, All Ages
WHAT: A fantastic folk festival
SO WHAT: University of Chicago Folk Festival might have come and gone but their digital presence is still around, making sure the wonderful music reaches as many people as possible! You can check out the past few years of performances on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel any time you want! This past year's performers included Balfa Toujours, Donka & Nikolay Kolev, Juan Rivera, Henry Barnes & Conner Vlietstra, Po' Ramblin' Boys, Jerron Paxton; Tim Britton, John Williams and Katie Grennan!
NOW WHAT: Head over to their Facebook page and their YouTube channel and enjoy the show! We highly encourage you to donate to help support this fantastic folk festival!
Masque of the Red Coronavirus! @ Black Button Eyes Productions, Any time on your computer or mobile device. For 18+.
WHAT: Written by Black Button Eyes Productions producing artistic director Ed Rutherford, this short satirical piece is available online free as a combined script-and-video experience.
SO WHAT: In addition to reading the play, you will see various Chicago artists act out portions of the script on video, recorded remotely. The event includes puppets, burlesque, original music, fire dancing and more in a brief, darkly comedic confection.
With the Red Coronavirus running rampant across the countryside and a vaccine still months away, what's a Prince to do? Lock himself in a secure bunker in an undisclosed location along with a cohort of his top donors, of course. To prevent him and his rich supporters from becoming bored, the Prince has also brought a few artists into the bunker to entertain the crowd. But as the hour grows later and the night grows weirder, it's clear that something else has also invaded the party.
NOW WHAT: Settle down watch this fun piece!