Inspired Chicago - Find fun things to do in Chicago!

Updated April 9, 2019 Scroll through the festival list or click on a link below to go directly to the month you plan to attend a festival. January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December If you are aware of a Chicago music festival that has not been included on this page, please send the festival's information via DM using Twitter (@InspiredChicago). Visit the following pages to find more festivals: Art and Craft Festivals Comedy and Theater Festivals Film Festivals Food Festivals Heritage Festivals January Tomorrow Never Knows , January 16–20, 2019 • Admission varies (visit festival website for details). February University of Chicago Folk Festival , February 15–16, 2019 • Admission varies (visit festival website for details). March Are you are aware of a Chicago music festival in March? Please send the festival's information via DM using Twi...

This year's World Music Festival Chicago runs from Friday, September 9, through Sunday, September 25, 2016. There are no performances scheduled for September 12–14 and 19–20. Venues Festival performances will take place at venues throughout Chicago (see the interactive map below for a complete list of venues). While most festival locations welcome all ages, a few venues require guests to be at least 18 or 21 years old. Please check the map for venues that have age requirements. Admission Admission to all World Music Festival Chicago performances is free. Interactive Map Use the interactive map below to find venue locations (listed alphabetically). Open each venue location to find the following information: Dates and times of festival performances being held at the venue Venue age requirements Festival musician information Venue name, address, phone number, and website address More Festival Information For more information, please visit the W...

The 2016 Chicago Jazz Festival runs from Thursday, September 1, through Sunday, September 4, and admission is free . Performances begin at the Chicago Cultural Center at 12 noon on Thursday and then move to Millennium Park Thursday evening for the remainder of the festival. Jazz groups from Chicago-area schools will be performing on Saturday. Be sure to stop by the Harris Theater Rooftop Terrace and support these young musicians. The festival will close on Sunday with a performance celebrating percussionist and 2008 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master Candido Camero's 95th birthday. If you would like to learn more about Candido Camero, please review the NEA biography and 2008 interview and DRUM! magazine's 2011 article, available online. For the complete festival lineup, please see the schedule below. Enjoy your 2016 Chicago Jazz Festival! Thursday, September 1 Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington Street, Chicago Claudia Cassidy Theater 12 noon | Dan Trud...

The 31st Chicago Gospel Music Festival will take place June 3–4, 2016, with performances at the Chicago Cultural Center and at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion. In addition, there will be a festival preview concert and conversation on May 18 and a panel discussion on June 2 (details below). All festival and preview events are free! Chicago Gospel Music Festival Preview Events Up Close & Personal Wednesday, May 18 • 6:30 p.m. Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington Street Claudia Cassidy Theater, 2nd Floor North In a conversation moderated by GRAMMY Award Winner Michelle Williams, GRAMMY Award Winner Lalah Hathaway and Vice President and General Manager of Urban Inspiration | Entertainment One Music Phil Thornton will discuss their careers and answer audience questions. The event will also feature performances by Kinsmen and Kymar Garner. Every Year Carries a Number: Preserving the Endangered Gospel Music Recordings of the Great Migrati...

The fourth annual Israeli Jazz and World Music Festival will run from May 26 through June 2, 2016. This year's festival features Chicago, New York, and Israel-based musicians performing a variety of music including jazz, blues, rock, and soul. Take a look at the schedule for this year's lineup. Be sure to check out the interactive map (at the end of this article) to help plan your festival experience. For additional information, visit the Israeli Jazz and World Music Festival online. To find more events in Chicago celebrating music, please visit the Music page. Lazer Lloyd Thursday, May 26, 2016 9:30 p.m. (21 and over) $10 Buddy Guy's Legends 700 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago Marbin Saturday, May 28, 2016 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. (21 and over) $15 Andy's Jazz Club 11 East Hubbard Street, Chicago Lazer Lloyd Sunday, May 29, 2016 7:30 p.m. (21 and over) $10 FitzGerald's 6615 West Roosev...

Before heading to Grant Park for this year's June 10–12 Chicago Blues Festival, catch a preview event. Performances and documentary films are taking place in May and early June at locations throughout the city. All events are free! Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith Tuesday, May 3 , 2016 • 12 noon Chicago Cultural Center, Randolph Square 78 East Washington Street, Chicago Blues Concert Wednesday, May 4 , 2016 • 6 p.m.–8 p.m. Garfield Park Conservatory, Horticulture Hall 300 North Central Park Avenue, Chicago Eric Noden and Joe Filisko Saturday, May 7 , 2016 • 12 noon Sulzer Regional Library 4455 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago Toronzo Cannon Tuesday, May 10 , 2016 • 12 noon Chicago Cultural Center, Randolph Square 78 East Washington Street, Chicago Speakin' of the Blues: Celebrating the 45th Anniversary of Alligator Records With Bruce Iglauer and Lil' Ed Thursday, May 12 , 2016 • 12:15...

This year's Hyde Park Jazz Festival is Saturday, September 26, and Sunday, September 27. Admission. All performances are free and open to the public. However, each attendee is encouraged to make a $5 donation. With a $125 donation, the festival provides a Jazz Pass, which entitles the holder to preferred seating at the Hyde Park Union Church, International House, Kenwood Academy, Logan Performance Hall, and Rockefeller Chapel venues. Venues. Performances will take place at 12 locations throughout Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, with Little Black Pearl, 1060 East 47th Street, as the northernmost venue and the University of Chicago's Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 East 60th Street, as the southernmost venue. The festival provides a free bus service between venues. The comprehensive 2015 Hyde Park Jazz Festival Venues map shows venues, bus routes, Divvy stations, refreshment vendors, and more. Schedule . Please note that, due to limited seating, Logan Cen...

The 2015 World Music Festival Chicago is in full swing and continues through September 22. Admission. Admission is free. However, some performances are designated ages 18+ or 21+. Please check the schedule for events that have age requirements. Venues. Events will take place at 15 locations throughout the city, with the northernmost venue at Mayne Stage, 1328 West Morse Avenue, and the southernmost venue at the University of Chicago's Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 East 60th Street. Ragamala: A Celebration of Indian Classical Music. Want to pull an all-nighter? From 8 p.m. on Friday, September 18, to 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, the festival offers just such an opportunity. Both Hindustani (north) and Carnatic (south) music will be represented. The ragas that will be performed were originally composed to be performed during the night and early morning. If you're concerned about going 12 hours without sustenance, there's no need to worry. Bombay Wraps ...

The 37th edition of the Chicago Jazz Festival ran from September 3 through September 6, with performances at the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park. Several of the performances brought me back to when I first discovered, and fell in love with, jazz. I attended a music appreciation class with a friend. It was a night class and she needed someone to walk home with when her usual classmate was unable to attend. That evening, I was introduced to the jazz of Jean-Luc Ponty, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and others. I loved it immediately! My husband and I began our jazz fest experience on Thursday afternoon by taking in two performances in the Chicago Cultural Center's beautiful Preston Bradley Hall. Pianist Ben Waltzer led the first group that took the stage, which included Bill McHenry (tenor saxophone), Marquis Hill (trumpet), Yosef Ben Israel (double bass), and Gerald Cleaver (drums). I particularly enjoyed the group's rendition of blues and jazz pianist Art Ho...

Get an early start to your Labor Day weekend at the 2015 Chicago Jazz Festival. Admission is free! The event gets started Thursday, September 3, with afternoon performances at the Chicago Cultural Center. Thursday evening, the festival heads across Michigan Avenue to Millennium Park, where the festivities will continue through Sunday, September 6. There is an exciting lineup planned each day (see the schedules below). If you haven't seen the Marquis Hill Blacktet, you'll want to head to the fest Thursday for the 6:30 p.m. performance. My husband and I saw the group (trumpeter Marquis Hill, alto saxophonist Christopher McBride, vibraphonist Justin Thomas, bassist Joshua Ramos, and drummer Makaya McCraven) at the Chicago Cultural Center's Sidney R. Yates Gallery, surrounded by Archibald Motley's vibrant Jazz Age paintings. I look forward to seeing the band at Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Stop by The Chicago Community Trust Young Jazz Lions Stage and su...

On May 14, my husband and I had the opportunity to see three-time GRAMMY nominee and award-winning harmonica player Billy Branch perform at Harold Washington Library Center’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium.  His performance was part of “Speakin’ of the Blues:  Celebrating the Willie Dixon Centennial” presented by the Chicago Public Library in cooperation with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. This year is the 100th anniversary of the birth of American blues legend Willie Dixon.  This preview event provided audience members a taste of this year’s Chicago Blues Festival tribute to Willie Dixon on June 14. Also sharing their talents were singer Keshia Dixon-Nelson, a granddaughter of Willie Dixon, and guitarist Dan Carelli, a member of Billy Branch’s Sons of Blues band. In a short question-and-answer session led by Chicago Public Library’s music librarian Christopher Popa, Mr. Branch shared some of his memories of knowing Willie Dixon a...

The 36th annual Chicago Jazz Festival wraps up today with performances beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the Chicago Community Trust Young Jazz Lions Pavilion and culminating with the Sun Ra Arkestra taking stage at 8:30 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. I had the opportunity to enjoy the Paulinho Garcia Quintet performance on Thursday, August 28, at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall.  The quintet featured Paulinho Garcia (guitar and vocals), Heitor Garcia (percussion), Geraldo de Oliveira (percussion), Dedé Sampaio (drums), and Greg Fishman (saxophone).  The music was beautiful.  However, what I really enjoyed was watching the excitement and enthusiasm on the faces of the musicians.  I could see they love what they do! A convenient stroll down the hall to the Claudia Cassidy Theater brought me to a performance by a special 10-piece version of David Boykin Expanse.  The group included Josh Abrams (bass), James Baker (piano), David Boykin (saxophon...

This year’s Chicago Jazz Festival runs Thursday, August 28, through Sunday, August 31.  The festival takes place each year the week before Labor Day and admission is free. There are several events scheduled to celebrate the 100th anniversary of jazz icon Sun Ra’s birth (May 22, 1914). A film screening of Sun Ra:  A Joyful Noise and Mystery Mr. Ra was held at 6 p.m. on Monday, August 25, at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 East Washington Street.  Both films will be shown again Tuesday, August 26.  The screenings include a discussion with Robert Mugge, director of Sun Ra:  A Joyful Noise . I attended the screening on Monday.  Mystery Mr. Ra has French subtitles when English is spoken.  However, there are no English subtitles for the French narration.  I felt like I was missing out and that I probably would have learned something interesting if I were fluent in French.  Seeing and hearing the performances on the fil...