Neighborhood News – Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Chicago Loop, Navy Pier, Greektown
Several sure signs of summer are returning this week to our fair city. Street festivals, arts and crafts fairs, World Turtle Day,🐢 and Greek Independence Day highlight Chicago’s neighborhood adventures this week!
Signs of Summer Part 1…LincolnPark’s annual kickoff to summer is MAYFEST, 1000 W. Armitage (@Sheffield) celebrating its 25th season from Friday, May 20 to Sunday, May 22. Friday’s opening night runs 5pm-10pm, and Saturday and Sunday runs from noon to 10pm. Music and entertainment on two stages showcases Chicago’s most acclaimed musicians. Mayfest offers delicious summertime food, and “all the libations needed to light up your weekend,” according to the organizers. They recommend $5 Mimosas on Saturday afternoon and free wine tastings on Saturday and Sunday. A suggested donation of $10 supports local charities. For more information, click here.
Signs of Summer, Part 2… It’s a very special Saturday, May 21 at Lincoln Park’s Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive. From 2pm-4pm, celebrate World Turtle Day by getting “up close and personal with the Museum’s resident turtles as well as several special guest species!” Meet reptile experts and learn how the Museum is working with the endangered Blanding’s turtle in the Chicago region, then take part in a very special Blanding’s feeding! Plus, make your own turtle-y awesome craft to take home! For tickets, click here.
Signs of Summer, Part 3…Down the road from Mayfest, at Lincoln and Roscoe, a new event premiers on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22, from 10am-5pm. The Spring Lincoln Roscoe Art & Craft Fair features paintings, sculptures, and fiber pieces, décor, jewelry and more; all handmade by artists and artisans. The festival also hosts live music, festival food and fun art activities for kids hosted by local businesses. Bring your gently used wall art to the festival to donate to the Chicago Furniture Bank, a nonprofit that distributes furnishings and art to those leaving shelters and moving into permanent housing. The event is hosted by the Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce. Free! For more information, click here.
A Summer Reckoning…Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ starring Richard Thomas (‘The Waltons’) as Atticus Finch, an upstanding, widowed lawyer dedicated to justice for all in a small town, at the James Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph Street. Shows run through Sunday, May 29. Audience members are required to wear masks. Other requirements may be added or relaxed based on evolving guidance. For tickets, click here.
Summer’s Promise…”The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.” At Navy Pier’s Courtyard Theater, 600 E. Grand Avenue, the plot of Shakespeare’s rarely-seen dark comedy, ‘All’s Well That Ends Well,’ revolves around the notion that no challenge can match the power of a determined woman, who is in love with a young man who does not return her affection. As the website says, “The resourceful Helena will go to any length to turn her visions of romance into reality—only to discover that happy endings are never as simple as they seem in fairy tales.” So true. Through May 29 at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. For tickets and information, click here.
A Victorious Summer…Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Greek Independence on Sunday, May 22, at 2:30 p.m. with the Greek Independence Heritage Day Parade on South Halsted. According to the organizers, during this parade celebration, visitors can see colorful traditional costumes and hear historical Greek melodies. The Greektown Agora (‘marketplace,’) runs from 12pm-6pm at Elysian Field at the corner of Halsted and Van Buren Streets, features vendors selling Greek gifts including art, jewelry, and crafts. For more information, click here.
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
