This is a great parade when the weather is just right. Not too hot or rainy or cold. I see the kids…read moremarching and dancing and I feel for them. THere is someone walking around with water thank goodness. I had hoped to get a glimpse of Mayor Lightfoot but apparently I missed her with the public schools. But Comedian Lil Rel as the Grand Marshall was still awesome! There were some giveaways for the kids and of course political and corporate show-offs. But the main attraction are schools, bands, other community organizations. The CTA reroute was in effect, which meant walking from Cottage Grove to King Drive on 47th. No buses that I could see would take us there on 47th. We should have invested in chairs but the grassy area was fine. People engage in enterprise at the parade by having cookouts; LOTS of cookouts and food for sale. We had grabbed doughnuts and I don't usually crave a hamburger at 10:30 am but next time i'll be more adventurous.

WOW what a cool parade! Show up at least 15-20 minutes prior if you want a good spot at the front…read more But we changed locations and we're able to get right up along the street so it's possible. There were TWO hundred floats! We left after 90 minutes after I asked the officer what float we were on....47. It was a great experience. Plenty of local school bands, dance and tumbling groups, politicians, radio stations, CPS, local and national companies, not for profits, etc most giving away little freebies. Best part was that Chance the Rapper was the Grand Marshal this year! Celebration at the park afterwards

Free music festival with a suggestion donation. The donation go to chamber of commerce. The…read morefestival is the Sheffield Avenue. It run three blocks. The festival has two stages for the music performance. We were able to attend the RAVIV Electric Cellos. The music is fun and electric. The most fun part are the foods. They look amazing for the vendors who sell it. It look yummy tummy. The visit takes 1 hours. We enjoy what Belmont special offer.

I will never understand why girls wear high heels at a street festival…read more Go to the Belmont Sheffield during the day, because after the sun sets the street is crowded with girls in fancy dresses and high heels posing and preening for the sweaty choads buying pitchers of Budweiser. During the day you can enjoy a few bands, some shopping, festival foods, and a family friendly atmosphere. At night it's a different ballgame.

This is such a fun Christmas light show! I took my kids to see it and they loved it! Bring some…read moreChristmas snacks with you; it's a fun night out. it's cool being next to the Sox stadium too! I highly recommend it!

Very nice. Less lights than the last time but my kids enjoyed it. Great to have the option for a…read moredrive through to view Christmas lights.

I'm so glad we decided to head out to this parade! I love parades, but often they are a real pain…read moreto get to and observe. Parking was actually pretty easy, and of course Metra would also have been an option--and a great one, actually, because the parade route runs very close to the Park Ridge Metra Stop. The parade had more participants than I would have expected for a small town. It lasted 45-60 minutes. I didn't realize that a town this size had so many Girl Scout troops but today I learned. The elected officials marched with sashes on (omg how small town 1940s), and the marching bands of two high schools in town joined forces to form a larger group. The historical society, armed forces branches, civic groups, and more turned out to make a great time. And this parade is one where they can toss out goodies, which I love but isn't as common in my hometown any longer. There was a little girl next to me yelling "Candy!" at the paraders to make sure she got her share. Candy was the most common item, of course, but there was also stickers, balls, cups, and other items. I may have to suggest to the the garden club that they should give out small packets of seeds next year! Although my kiddo was not set loose, she seemed to enjoy it. Next year she can fight the other kids for candy but she seemed to enjoy her time as a spectator. I'll look forward to other such events.

For a long time, I always dreamed that one day I would live in a town where the 4th of July parade…read moremarches past my house. Well, it hasn't happened yet, but there is a parade about 2 miles away from home on Memorial Day with the same small-town feel I have hoped for. Running along Cumberland Ave. starting at Devon and ending in the park near Touhy, the parade is an annual event that brings out the people for a feel-good patriotic event with a local feel. In the parade, you have the two local high school marching bands - Maine East and Maine South - as bookends. Local VFW and veterans groups are represented too. There's the parade of municipal vehicles: fire trucks, ambulance, police cars, and even a giant snow plow. Classic car afficionados bring out their vintage vehicles on the parade route. Local churches and charitable organizations, scouts, school kids, and even the ladies from the public library, all appear in the parade. You might even see a familiar face from your own block marching past you. While the mayor and local politicians participate too, it is not the political love-fest you see in Chicago's Irish parade or other ethnic parades held downtown. The street is small, the crowd is local and so are the people marching. The folks living along Cumberland have friends come over and hold picnics on their lawns or sit on their porches, adorned in red-white-and blue bunting. The marchers toss candy at the kids, who scramble and compete to pick it up off the street. It runs a little over an hour. After it is over, you leave feeling good about the place you live and it reminds you of an Norman Rockwell-esque, idyllic time when everyone in town knew each other by name and neighborhoods were full of neighborly people.

This is our 2nd year that we've attended Earth Day festivities at Maine Park. Normally it is held…read moreoutdoors on the expansive lawn of Maine Park's soccer fields from 11 AM-3 PM. Due to the clouds and occasional drizzle, the event took place in the field house instead. With the exception of tree climbing and nature walks through the nearby prairie and swamp, everything else was in the gym, the hallways, and individual classrooms in the building. I actually think it was better this way. In the gym, there were 2 inflatable bouncing things and a stage with a cover band playing classic rock staples from the Eagles, Wings, or other oldies favorites. Tables set up in the hallways demonstrated things you can do to help the environment, or provided information on identifying emerald ash borers, invasive species, and offered activities for kids. Morton Arboretum and Brookfield Zoo both had exhibits. In the different classrooms, there were stations set up for kids activities like decorating your own reusable grocery bag, planting seeds, digging for (Gummy) worms in the dirt, recyclable plastic bottle bucket game, or a board game played on the floor where the players are the game pieces hopping from square to square. One cool activity involved making your own recycled paper from a puree mix of shredded paper, colorant and glitter. My son made a sheet to bring home and dry. Touching it in a dry and finished state was really amazing to him. Perhaps the coolest thing to see there was a classroom with 3 bird handlers showing off live birds of prey. We got to see a large screech owl, a red-tailed hawk and a peregrine falcon! There was also a little owl sitting on the table that almost looked like a toy, but my kids were stunned when it turned its head and blinked its eyes at them. The little owl appeared nervous and kept watching the large hawk perched on the falconer's shoulder. As if that wasn't enough, in nearby Centennial Park, they had a recycling truck set up to accept all small electronics, old computer stuff, and even used car batteries - no fee! I got rid of my old computer finally and an expired battery to my sump pump. Cook County S.W.A.P. (Work Alternative Program) guys helped unload people's cars and load the truck. By mid-afternoon, the amount of stuff collected was incredible. My kids were excited about the whole Earth Day experience and will look forward to doing it again next year.

I wanted to share how much I enjoy the Carrera de Los Muertos 5K each year -- it's such a…read morebeautiful, culturally rich event that I truly look forward to. The atmosphere, community spirit, and celebration of tradition make it a standout race. That said, I do want to provide a bit of feedback about the packet pickup process. This year it took nearly two hours and felt very unorganized. When I received our team's packets, all the shirts were placed together in a box without the blue Dominican bags that were supposed to be included. In addition, there were no pins included with the 16 packets. Very disappointing experience with a 5k of this stature. It might help to offer an online option for group or team packet pickup, allowing one person to collect materials for multiple participants in an organized way. This would really streamline the process and make race weekend even smoother for everyone involved.

Every year the dead arise. Well sort of, with the Mexican Day of the dead this 5k run is made to…read morehonor those who have left us and it seems that every year the crowd gets bigger and bigger. For early birds who register for the race, you can put a creative name or tag on your flag. But this who wait too long will have to settle for their real name. The goo thing with this race is that with your paid registration you get a wonderful shirt with the Dia de los muertos logo and a few other goodies. Don't get It Twisted, this is NOT Halloween, so come in your best made up day of the dead look. I am sure you will be creative, but just in case, there are those who do face paintings for a small fee of course (come on make up is not cheap). So google Carrera de los muertos and you will see the wonderful photos of this years event. And while you're there you will be able to purchase items pertaining to the 5k and much more. The art is wonderful and the atmosphere is amazing. See ya next year for this wonderful event and of course, don't forget to check in.

The Renovo String Orchestra is one of the best that the Chicago area music scene has to offer. You…read morecan tell that everyone who is associated with this place (performers and staff) cares deeply about bringing high quality performances to its audiences. The folks here are friendly and passionate patrons of the arts. I had a chance to see this group perform at Rockefeller Chapel, among other fabulous productions, and they simply brought the house down. The praise showered down, non stop, from the last row in the balcony to the first row of the orchestra. This is the quintessential Chicago ensemble. Go see them live - You will love it!

Ravenswood Light-Up Nights is a tradition that started in 2019, and has continued to remain strong…read morethroughout the pandemic and beyond. This was the fifth year and they reimagined it a little bit. There was a HUGE crowd this year--I even bumped into our Chicago CM, Kate! Last year there were people, but not nearly the hundreds that were around this year. There was a holiday market in the All Saints' parish hall where a few independent vendors were selling some things. Before the tree lighting there was a local dance troupe that performed. It was nice that they had some special guests (not just the alderman and the president of Ravenswood Neighbors, but also our congressional representative Mike Quigley). There were at least a couple of musical performances in the church and at ACM across the street. And the hot chocolate was a huge hit!! They also had a scavenger hunt for the kids, which was a nice touch. And they raised approximately $1,700 Ravenswood Community Services, which is great. The only feedback I'd have is that they may need to do something different for the holiday market since it was just too packed, and either reduce the number of speakers or not have them speak so long (the RNA chair was particularly verbose).