Neighborhood News from Streeterville, Lakeview, Chicago Loop, Lincoln Park, Magnificent Mile, Grant Park

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Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit!  (Happy St. Patrick’s Day, in Gaelic)

Very soon (March 21), winter will give way to spring. To herald the season of rebirth and renewal (and longer, warmer days!), Chicago’s communities are celebrating with outside activities and lots of spring celebrations! 

Holi, for example, is a Hindu spring festival. You and your family can experience this rite of spring on Saturday, March 19, from 1pm-5pm at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Avenue. This free “festival of colors” welcomes spring with a vibrant-colored powder, and will feature live music, dance and educational programming in the Grand Ballroom, along with the iconic powder throwing and DJs outdoors at Navy Pier’s Beer Garden from 1pm-4pm. Ravi Baichwal, anchor at ABC7, and   Master of Ceremonies – Rahul Sharma from Funkadesi will appear.  For more information, click here.

“He’s Winnie The Pooh, Winnie The Pooh…Willy, nilly, silly old bear” At Lakeview’s Mercury Theater (the Hundred-Acre Wood), 3745 N. Southport Avenue, meet Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Owl, and Tigger as they come to life through life-sized puppetry in this musical stage adaptation, featuring a score from Disney’s famed Sherman Brothers, now through June 12.  A memorable show for children of all ages! For tickets and information, click here. 

It’s always spring inside the Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 N. Stockton Drive, as the Conservatory presents its annual Spring Flower Show, ‘Pillars of Spring.’ More than a dozen freestanding pillars are filled with colorful, fragrant geraniums, dianthus, larkspur and stock. Also, the website notes that azaleas and camellias will fill the room with “beauty and elegance and visions of spring.” Free, but tickets must be reserved in advance. Now through May 8. To reserve tickets, click here.

“What would happen,” Broadway in Chicago asks, “ if Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python had an illegitimate Broadway baby? Their answer? You’d get THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG! Hilarity ensues at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut Street, from March 15-May 29.  For reservations and information, click here.

Saturday, March 19 marks St. Joseph’s Day. What better way to celebrate the Patron Saint of Italy than by celebrating the grand traditions of Italy…say, opera? The Lyric Opera, 20 N. Wacker Drive, is presenting Puccini’s Tosca, now through April 10. As the story goes, Tosca is the story of a diva who has all of Rome at her feet. A heroine who is brave and loving, extravagantly emotional, yet utterly irresistible. For tickets, click here.

For those who can’t get enough of St. Patrick’s Day…Bank of America’s Shamrock Shuffle is back! St. Patrick himself leads the first race of the spring running season at Grant Park on Sunday, March 20, starting at 8am. There are still spots left for the 8K run. Registration starts at $55 and will remain open on a first-come-first-served basis.  According to their website, ‘shufflers’ picking up their packets on Friday and Saturday are encouraged to enjoy a new experience…live music and activities around Buckingham Fountain, Columbus and Ida B. Wells Drive, after picking up their runners packets. For more information, click here.

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago