THIS WEEKEND IN CHICAGO – Closing Out the 2025 Holiday Season!
This first weekend of 2026 not only closes out the 2025 holiday season but it also offers a few non-holiday events as well!
For those who didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy any of the holiday events prior to Christmas, here’s your chance to experience some of that holiday magic!
Enjoy an evening out with family and/or friends at the Lincoln Park ZooLights this final Saturday and Sunday (4:30 p.m.-9 p.m.) at Lincoln Park Zoo (2400 N. Cannon Dr.) in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. This event twinkles and sparkles with over 3 million lights, hundreds of LED displays, and festive experiences. In addition, there are plenty of Rides and Attractions (tickets required) such as the Ferris wheel or the Endangered Species Carousel; a ZooLights Scavenger Hunt – find the hidden ornaments for a prize; Holiday Bites and Beverages – indulge in hot chocolate, snack on fresh churros, or roast s’mores; Indoor Self-Guided Tours – warm up inside zoo buildings by learning about the variety of species; and much more!
Another popular holiday event takes you inside Navy Pier’s Festival Hall (600 E. Grand Ave.) in the Streeterville neighborhood for their Winter Wonderfest which also wraps-up this weekend. This event offers endless ways to play from heart-pumping rides like the Cliffhanger and Zero Gravity to classics like the kiddie train, electric bumper cars, the new motorcycle jump, bounce houses, and slides. In addition, take in their towering 42-foot holiday tree; enjoy live music and special performances at their Winter Wonder Stage; or enjoy tasty treats and beverages between adventures. What a great way to end 2025 and welcome in 2026 with Rides, Thrills, and Holiday Cheer indoors from the arctic temps!
Celebrating over 40 years, Holiday Magic also wraps up this Saturday and Sunday (3 p.m.-9 p.m.) at Brookfield Zoo (8400 31st St.) in Brookfield. This beloved holiday tradition transforms the Zoo into a dazzling winter wonderland with more than 3.5 million lights, interactive light displays, a giant light-up maze, more light tunnels, animal-themed lights, and so much more!
For those of you that have had enough of the holiday magic already, here’s what this weekend has to offer.
A new traveling children’s exhibit celebrating the 75th anniversary of an iconic comic strip is having its final viewings this Saturday and Sunday (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) with Take Care with Peanuts: The Exhibit at Chicago’s Children Museum at Navy Pier (600 E. Grand Ave.) in the Streeterville neighborhood. Your family will be transported into the world of Charles M. Schulz where you can explore character-themed sections highlighting each Peanuts character’s unique interests and values such as Lucy’s psychiatric booth, play the piano with Schroeder, go ice-skating with the Peanuts Gang, and so much more. It’s an interactive and educational exhibit focusing on three key themes – caring for yourself, caring for others, and caring for the Earth!
Considered one of the most beautiful and spectacular productions in history, The Phantom of the Opera returns to the Cadillac Palace (151 W. Randolph St.) in The Loop now through February 1. This production tells the tale of a disfigured musical genius known as ‘The Phantom’ who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House. If you want to know about the dramatic turn of events, you’ll have to visit the Cadillac Palace!
It’s Week 18 and our beloved Chicago Bears will be wrapping up their regular season hosting the Detroit Lions this Sunday with a 3:25 p.m. kickoff at Soldier Field (1410 S. Museum Campus Dr.) in the South Loop. GO BEARS!!!
HAPPY 2026!!
Sue Moss and Dean’s Team Chicago
