THIS WEEKEND IN CHICAGO – THEY’RE BACK!!
Yep, yet another Thanksgiving and Holiday Season are upon us, and in true Chicago fashion, it’s time to officially kick them off this weekend! They’re Back!!
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival once again brings its tree-lighting parade of more than one million lights adorning 200 trees down Michigan Avenue between Wacker Drive and Oak Street, marshaled by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as a visit from Santa Claus in his brand-new chalet this Saturday from 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Prior to the parade, explore an interactive wonderland of holiday-themed activities at the “Lights Festival Lane” in Pioneer Court (401 N. Michigan Ave.) from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with crowd favorites such as Connie’s Pizza, Eli’s Cheesecake, Garrett Popcorn and more! And, don’t forget to stick around after the parade for the fireworks show over the Chicago River and extended retail hours from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. to continue your holiday shopping. Now, if this doesn’t get you in the holiday spirit, I don’t know what will!!
Another traditional kick-off to the Holiday Season is an open-air, German-style market known as Christkindlmarket Chicago opening this weekend at the Daley Plaza (50 W. Washington St.) in The Loop and running through December 24th (11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Sun-Thu; 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Fri-Sat). This market showcases accessories, clothing, gifts, handmade ornaments and more from dozens of vendors as well as featuring German food and drink such as bratwurst, schnitzel, potato pancakes, spiced wine and more! Experience German and European tradition at Chicago’s largest open-air Christmas festival!!
Celebrating its 14th anniversary, the Chicago Toy & Game Fair 2016 returns to Navy Pier, Festival Hall (600 E. Grand Ave.) in the Streeterville neighborhood this Saturday (10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) and Sunday (10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) as part of ChiTAG week – the largest non-hobby toy and fair in North America. It’s a playful extravaganza of holiday fun for people of all ages which features interactive exhibits, a chance to meet toy & game inventors from around the world, a chance to walk inside the world’s largest PomPom, an opportunity to shop for the hottest new and classic toys for the holidays or attend the Star Wars lunch, along with giveaways, magic shows, contests and much, much more!
Chicago’s fundraising event for this weekend is the Ditka Dash presented by State Farm® this Saturday (9:00 a.m. 1st wave, 10:00 a.m. 2nd wave) at Soldier Field (1410 S. Museum Campus Dr.) in the South Loop. Participants receive a Ditka-styled mustache, aviator sunglasses, an amazing finisher’s medal and a race shirt designed like Da Coach’s fine wool sweater vest! Post-race, celebrate with your fellow Ditkas at the Miller Lite Mustache Bash with live music and cold beer!!
Moving into next week for the Thanksgiving Holiday –
The Turkey Crawl takes place on Wednesday (Nov 23rd) from 7:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. beginning at the Old Crow Smokehouse (3506 N. Clark St.). Crawl from Wrigleyville’s BEST bars with other fun-loving folks at Wrigleyville’s only Black Wednesday Crawl. Your ticket includes three $4 gift cards to use on the crawl, a dinner buffet and more!
The 83rd annual McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place on Thursday (Nov 24th) kicking-off at 8:00 a.m. from State Street and Congress Parkway and continuing north to Randolph Street. Once again, the parade features gigantic inflatable helium balloons, marching bands, talented entertainers and decorative floats all dispensing holiday cheer! Also on hand will be Ronald McDonald himself and of course, Santa Claus. Then it’s back home to enjoy a Thanksgiving Feast with family and/or friends!!
OH BOY – Here We Go!!!
SUE MOSS & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO
