I was at Taste of Orland Park for this year's Taste that runs this weekend only. so tonight they…read moreare open untIl 11 pm, tomorrow 3 to 11 pm, and then Sunday 3 to 9 pm. I got pizza from Papa Joes, Barraco's and Jets pizza which is 2 half slices that is in a box. The drone show scheduled for tonight is postponed because of rain and instead 11 pm tomorrow night. This year before the veterans ceremony Jim Corinelson who performs the nat Anthem at Blackhawks home games, will sing the national anthem on the main stage tomorrow night at 6pm. The update is because of the weather and status of the grounds, the village has canceled Taste of Orland Park after delaying the gate opening to 6 pm. This is for today August 1st, but they are hoping to be open and see you tomorrow. If any wants Jet's Pizza, it is in the same row but further down that Papa Joe's.

Well it's moved again ... this time to the brand new Centennial Park West venue. The review…read morecomments from the past still apply, but this new venue is roomier and allows for more patrons and food tents. Now in its 21st year, Taste of Orland is a fun outing. Bring your own chairs to be sure you get seating. The permanent stage allows for much better audio performances. Fun outing ...

The University of Chicago Folk Festival is a long-time event--I think it's been held for almost…read moreseven decades, with the exception of the first couple years of the pandemic. It's a combination of folk arts, workshops held by performers or others, concerts, and so on. There are dances held during the workshop days often with music from the concert performers. You can join a sea shanty sing, or learn a new way of playing your instrument, how to become a storyteller, and so on. The workshops during the day are free but the concerts at Mandel Hall have a charge. The schedule is a mess. There's no break between most events, which causes so many problems I just cannot understand their insistence on maintaining this mode of scheduling. A workshop is scheduled 12:30-1:30 and another from 1:30-2:30 in the same room. How is this logistically sound? You have to get the prior presenter out, which could take several minutes depending upon what gear they have to pack up. Folks leaving & entering simultaneously for two workshops. I've been to workshops that were 10+ minutes off schedule for this reason and sat through programs I thought were within 20 minutes of finishing so as not to miss the one following, only to find out it was actually closer to 40 minutes from ending (annoying since I wasn't interested in the topic and would have attended another workshop during that hour if I'd known they were so far behind). It doesn't help that sometimes the volunteers overseeing a workshop don't give a time call or when asked how much time remains they aren't assertive in saying time's up/one minute left/etc. Changing the schedule to add breaks would add less than an hour to the schedule, and/or they could change the start and end time for the day. A quilting workshop by the Lakeshore Quilting Guild is one I was excited to attend. This was the reason I attended this year; unfortunately, the workshop was quite a dud. It started 15 or so minutes late due to the scheduling issues mentioned above. There was little instruction. I've never quilted before and once set up they just sat at the front--it took someone asking when we were starting for them to hand that person a paper with patterns, tell them to pick out squares, and provide information on what we were doing there. But what do we do with the squares once we have them? It wasn't very well planned and that was disappointing because I had been ready to join the Lakeshore Quilting Guild to learn this craft and maybe make something small. Based on this experience it seems like they're only really looking for experienced quilters, not newbies. It would have been better if they'd welcomed us and told us what we were doing, how to use the patterns, how they wanted us to arrange them and then bring them up for sewing; if there'd been Guild members helping attendees from the start rather than standing at the front waiting for people to come to them at first. When they got overwhelmed by people lining up to get help sewing they realized they should maybe do something besides play with their phones or stand around. I know, I should cut them some slack, since I'm not sure they've ever participated in the festival before. ETA: Camille saved the quilting day! She set up a second sewing machine and helped me sew my square together. She was very welcoming, asking me my name; if I did fiber or other domestic arts; and invited me to their meetings (they meet twice per month, once via zoom and once in person). I also went to the end of the Piedmont Blues workshop, which was well attended. Most folks watched but I did see a few with guitars in the audience. Immediately after in the same room was the Huateco fiddle workshop, providing some instruction on a style of music from a region in Mexico, and that was pretty cool. That's the workshop I had actually wanted to listen to in there and the performer was really proficient. One of my favorite aspects are the jam sessions that just pop up. I stumbled onto two whilst I was there on different floors. I only got a chance to listen to one, really, but the players were fantastic! I could have listened to them for an hour or more. The festival is ADA-compliant... ish. Noyes Hall has entrance ramps on the west (Woodlawn) and east (Kimbark) sides of the building, but the UCFF site doesn't say anything; I combed the website and found nothing saying there were special entrances for folks can't use the stairs. The students who are working at the desk in the building, completely unrelated to this specific event, also apparently don't know where the stair-free entrances are because when I asked she had to call someone to find out. That front entrance also has three black stairs once you enter the doors which are hard to see especially when you're leaving, so be careful there. Overall, it's an enjoyable event with some room for improvement even decades in. The concerts held on Friday and Saturday are great.

I attend this festival every year no matter what - it is the only pleasant thing about Chicago in…read moreFebruary! And THIS year, my band (The New Mules) is booked! What an awesome treat! Check the web site for all the other great bands too. Usually the first weekend in Feb., but this year it's Feb 12-14, so get ready to feel the love! :o) There are ALL KINDS of music / dance at this thing, but to give you a taste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCSu0UVeBYY

Really nice event to celebrate Polish Heritage. The Main Street (renamed Pierogi Way) was lined…read morewith vendors of all types as well as the local businesses. Every example of Polish food staples as well as shirts, jewelry, pottery.... Two beer gardens, one with a really fun band with people dancing dressed as 'babushkas' (grandmothers or old ladies wearing babushka scarves). Another stage had a more concert-like feel with polka music. We (20 of our family members) ended with a substantial $20 plate of polish standards (sausages, kraut, noodles & cabbage, golubki, and pierogi) at the Elks club. This event had it all and the town pays tribute to its roots exceptionally well.

Awesome time! Great food great people had a wonderful time with friends. Admission is free. Beers…read moreare cold. Pierogis are awesome. Found parking on one of the side streets since we got there early. Ohio and New York. Music playing at multiple spots. The pierogi foam hats are for sale at the chamber of commerce for $10 bucks. Definitely a good time.

Looking for a grown and sexy vibe? This is a good place to chill on a nice summer evening. Once the…read moresun goes down the vibe is so cool. Good food, drinks, and most of all great music artists. The opening artists were smooth but tonight I had the pleasure of enjoying Kem perform. This is one of my favorite artists. Smooth vocals from the brotha as always. Guuuurrrrrrrrrllllllllll. It was a bit weird being alone but I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Great performance and crowd participation. A nice peaceful beautiful evening and Kem.

We saw Sheila E here. Well, and Morris Day. Two legends. The very best seats were affordable and…read moreI never thought I would see her perform live in my lifetime. Amazing.

It was abnormally warm this year...so didn't feel much like fall. We were wearing tank tops and…read moresundresses and taking pictures with scarecrows and pumpkins lol. Love this event and look forward to it every year!

350 Fest was a ton of fun! I got to try a lot of new beers and I liked that the exhibit hall wasn't…read moretoo crowded. There were a few kinks that I hope get worked out, but this was their inaugural event, so I am certain they will be bigger and better the next time around! The first bump in the road was not being able to find a confirmation for our ticket order. It is quite possible the email was sent but didn't make it to our inbox. It is also equally possible that this was a user error and we lost the confirmation; however, we couldn't find it by searching the website and think that because a new account wasn't set up we weren't able to double check our status online. We ended up reaching out to one of the people running the show to make sure we were on the list. Luckily, we were! The second snag was when we got to the convention center and people were directed to two different lines. One line seemed to be for fancy tickets. The other line had people with print outs. We asked where Will-Call was and the staff member didn't understand the question. She asked what we meant by that and what the name was. We gave her the name the tickets should be under and she was totally confused. She wanted to know the name of the person working there with whom we were supposed to be (maybe she thought we were a vendor?), and then if we were intending to purchase unclaimed tickets. After going back and forth about what we meant she let us know we were in the right line and they could pull up our tickets on their computers when we reached the entrance. Those two little issues were really the only downside and were quickly remedied. We were checked in, given our souvenir glasses and event info, and in practically no time we were enjoying craft beer. The place was packed but you never felt like you couldn't get where you wanted to go. A few of the breweries' booths appeared to not be in the exact order as listed on the map we were given, but I had a lot of beer and a little lunch, so that could be user error again. Still, they seemed to be in the general direction of where they were supposed to be and the area covered was small enough that it wasn't a hassle to search them out. If possible in the future, it would be helpful to have the brewery names up higher behind the booths. Vice District Brewing Co ended up being our favorite vendor of the booths at which we stopped. Their consumer interaction game was strong. I understand it was busy, but they were really the only group that actually took the time to talk with us and we felt that they wanted repeat business based on not just their hops but their hospitality as well. Their playlist playing during the time we were there was fantastic and the live music we heard was really good, too. All in all, it was a very well put together event and I would definitely come back if they do it again!

This year is the 28th Annually African Fest that happens every year in Washington Park on the South…read moreSide of Chicago. African fest is always the weekend before Labor Day. This has been me & the bestie's yearly traditional event to attend each year. There are so many vendors to walk around and be amazed to see handmade paintings,clothing and other African pieces to purchase. Every year its a must that I grab my fav bottle of Mango Butter Oil for $10.00. Its one of the hot seller oils at this fest. Each vendor that sells this oil has it burning throughtout their tent. The smell is amazing. Also, each year there is a celebrity performer for each day that the fest is running. Tonight at 8PM Wyclef Jean will hit the stage to perform. The only issue is that every year the price to enter the fest seems to go up. This year it cost $20.00 to walk thru the gate. Thats a steep price for a fest to just walk away. There are food vendors lined up on the side from jerk chicken, vegan plates, funnel cakes, the list of food goes on and on. Its a great family fun event to get out and enjoy. There are so many vendors to purchase shea butter and soap, oils, head pieces, handmade earrings and other unique pieces you may like to buy. Its just a fun filled day of getting out and enjoying nature and people.

An Awesome Experience, with many unique vendors…read more FOOD: The food selection was incredible. Caribbean fare, African fare, Latin fare. Featuring foods that are very authentic and very aromatic. I had oxtail, which was great. I lot of smoothie and juice stands as well. A few vegan friendly places and vegetarian spots too. VENDORS: vendors sold everything from dolls, to jewelry, to cloth, to makeup, to shoes. Very diverse selection with decent prices. TICKETS: Entrance was $20 at the door, and was cheaper in advance from what I understand. PERFORMANCES: Many talented singers, dancers, musicians and drummers on the main stage.

I really enjoyed the Day hanging on the lake with my family and friends. The environment was joyful…read moreand peaceful. I felt safe and was able to relax and just enjoy the music, the entertainment, the food and all the beautiful people that were out there just having a wonderful time. It was nice to see friends that I haven't seen in many years..... it was a really good choice hosting the event on the lake. I look forward to going again next year.