Your Windy City Guide

Posts Tagged ‘Neighborhoods’

Great video I found on YouTube today. I only wish I was the one who produced this.  It’s quite good!

Festival season spools into full frantic mode this weekend with something happening in every neighborhood in Chicago.  The Red Line is your friend.  Driving:  Not So Much.

Right Now: Blackhawks Championship Parade

Starting at 10:30 am on Friday, throngs of Blackhawks fans join the Stanley Cup Champions along the parade route ending in a rally at the corner of Michigan Ave. & Wacker Drive. 

The photo was taken just after sunrise around 6am, with thousands of fans crowding the location where the Blackhawks are expected to take the stage along with the Stanley Cup.

The route:  From Washington at Wacker – east to Michigan Avenue.  Then north on Michigan Ave. north to Wacker again.  All roads are closed already.  Fun, no?  The festivities are scheduled to end at Noon.  Don’t expect traffic to let up anytime before sunset in the Loop.

Sidenote: World Cup at Daley Plaza

At Daley Plaza on Washington, a celebration heralding the opening of the World Cup Soccer Championship was planned long ago.  Scheduled for the afternoon hours, this promises to add to the mêlée in the Loop today.

Cross Town Classic

Hosted at Wrigley Field this weekend (and on the South Side next weekend) the Cubs host the White Sox in the Cross Town Classic.

Friday: 1:20 game time

Saturday: 3:10 game time

Sunday: 7:00 pm game time

South Side: 26th Annual Printers Row Lit Fest

Sponsored by the Chicago Tribune, this year’s Lit Fest affirms the Trib’s commitment to the written word in all its forms.  The fest is in full swing on Saturday and Sunday, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm along Dearborn between Congress and Polk. 

Authors perform readings for adults and children.  Cooking demonstrations on stage.  Poetry workshops in the Hotel Blake.  Plus the rows of book sellers selling new and used books of every genre.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/printers-row/printers-row-lit-fest.html 

Downtown: Chicago Blues Festival

The Chicago Blues Festival is the largest free blues festival in the world and remains the largest of Chicago’s Music Festivals. During three days on five stages, more than 640,000 blues fans prove that Chicago is the "Blues Capital of the World." Past performers include Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, B.B. King, the late Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy and the late Koko Taylor.  

Blues Fest kicks off in Grant Park on Friday at 11:30 am.

Saturday from 11:30 am to 10:00 pm

Sunday from 11:30 am to 10:00 pm

www.chicagobluesfestival.org/

Near North: Old Town Art Fair & Wells Street Art Festival

Wells Street Art Festival take place in Old Town along Wells Street between Division and North Avenues.  And the Old Town Art Fair offers exhibits and activities on some of Old Town’s side streets just off Wells Street running west, and north of North Ave and along N. Lincoln.

The Wells Street Art Festival is recognized as one of Chicago’s most prestigious art fairs, attracting exhibitors and prospective buyers from all over the nation. The show features a wide variety of fine art – everything from glass and ceramics, to pencil drawings and oil paintings – plus a silent auction and children’s area. Musicians performing along Wells Street will make you forget you’re at an outdoor festival!

The Old Town Art Fair – pretty much the same.  Your Guide does not know why these events are not simply combined into one large event as for all practical purposes, event goers treat both as the same.

Friday from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm.

Far North: Andersonville Midsommarfest

Midsommarfest is Andersonville’s annual summer street festival, now entering its 45th year. Each year, nearly 50,000 people throng Clark Street from Foster to Catalpa for two days of music, dancing, kids’ entertainment, and delicious food. Vendors from around the region sell their wares to passers-by, while ethnic dance troupes and cutting-edge bands keep the party going.

Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm.

Mark Konkol from the Sun Times posted on Friday a rant against a few of the big real estate brokerages for re-inventing neighborhood maps motivated by their own self interest and driving sales in mind.  Not even @properties is spared.

The marketing savvy brokers at DreamTown.com are offering a new version of their Chicago neighborhood map for FREE. They bill the map as the “most current and complete map of current Chicago neighborhoods available for free.”

Their claim is technically true — the map is free.

But “current and complete” is a bunch of bunk.

Link to the entire article here: http://blogs.suntimes.com/konkol/2009/12/dont_believe_the_realtors.html

At the end of Mark’s post, he links to the best Neighborhood Map – the City of Chicago’s.  You can find it here. I have to agree.  This one is the best.