A place to chant get great vibes for meditation ‍ saying the words …read more... Nam - Myoho- Renge-Kyo on Wednesday at 11-1PM ... 1455 South Wabash Chicago, Illinois 60605

My inner peace, my lotus mantra! great caring community and lovely Buddhist practice!!read more

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!

It was more like a neighborhood block party with some carnival rides and games than it was a…read moreOktoberfest. Spent about an hour there since it was just me and my husband and had done everything. The beer wasn't too expensive and they did have some good music. Not really the Oktoberfest German experience you would really want.

The Berwyn Oktoberfest is a blast! Sure, it's not a real Oktoberfest, it is more of a HUGE block…read moreparty like the other reviewer said, but what makes it great is that there are so many local restaurants and vendors. This is a true community festival that has retained its character. The music acts are also great and they have ample seating and security for the event. There is a lot of excitement surrounding the event, especially from the Mayor and his presence. They had a great 80s band last year that really got the crowd going! Look forward to this festival every year as a 30 something year old.

I was across the street at Do-Rite enjoying my chocolate old fashioned donut when I happened to…read morelook across Randolph St and spot a bunch of white tents with flags representing different countries of the world. Once I finished up with my donut, I ventured over to check it out. Sure enough there was a little festival going on, that I later found out was the 8th annual Chicago Sister Cities International Festival. I was glad to be there while it was taking place, seeing as it was only going on from August 5-9th. And it was definitely a fun little fest - almost a hybrid between a farmer's market, a flea market, and a taste of Chicago/the world - type event. The booths had things ranging from fresh fruits and vegetables, soaps and jewelry, bakery goods, and authentic meals from countries like the United Kingdom, the Ukraine, Poland... The cool part was that each booth was representative of a different country and labeled as such. I found the booth from Italy especially awesome as it had gelato affogato and cannoli! There was also a tent with this guy from the UK who was selling and giving out samples of his mother's recipe english toffee. He was super into it and suggesting all the ways to enjoy the toffee: in ice cream, in coffee, on its own...mmm. It was quite good! There was also a stand that was selling sweet corn, and this young boy was handing out samples of it straight from the cob. It was the type that you don't even have to cook/grill for it to taste good because it is that fresh and sweet. And ah man that was some good corn!! This was definitely a cool event to come across and something I'm marking my calendar for next year!

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

We went to the Hot Sauce Festival a second time, two years after going the last time. The festival…read morehas grown quite a lot - compared to 2023, there were more hot sauce vendors, food trucks, even carnival games. This year it was in the mall parking lot. Last time I went it was in downtown Joliet. We were more interested in the hot sauce than the other activities. (Like wrestling matches). Vendors were there was all over the country, not just the area around Chicago. We sampled dozens of hot sauces and walked away with about 20 bottles - it's going to take a long time to get through all of those. And, what a variety there was - from mild to very hot, traditional hot sauces, and flavored ones, hot jams, hot honey, barbeque spices, and much more. We truly enjoyed ourselves and thank Yelp for the tickets.

We had a lot of fun at this event. We got to try several different hit sauces, got some drinks in…read morethe VIP area and talked to some great people. Learned Monster now makes alcohol drinks much to my surprise and they are good! We watch some wrestling and a hot sauce donut eating contest. We grabbed some food from the food truck and it was delicious. Thr burrito was large and the elote was ok. We even ran into someone my hubby knows from work. It was a great time! Weather was perfect!!

Neat little railroad festival located in downtown Homewood Illinois. This festival runs every year…read morefor a single day during May. It is sponsored and run by the Village of Homewood. The fest has numerous train layouts and a healthy assortment of vendors selling train memorabilia. It is also a good place to get train modeling advice and ideas. This is a great fest for train buffs but even more so for kids. Bring them all for a nice day in Homewood. Tours through a real locomotive engine and caboose are also available for the whole family. Best of all..the fest and tours are free.

Great Homewood Farmers Market located Downtown Homewood on Dixie Hwy. I come here for the fresh…read moreveggies and Fruit. The salas and chips are good. I sampled a few vegan dishes. This is a great Saturday family outing, it's something for everyone. I try to come here at least twice a month up until they leave in October.

There are a lot of booths selling ubiquitous French inspired jewelry, accessories, home decor, and…read morea slew of needless things that just unnerves me, because in reality, how many Parisians wear jewelry, decorate their home and carry bags that say PARIS or is a replica of the Eiffel Tower? You guessed it - not many. Maybe none. I'll go with none. That most of these cheesy "French" things are ridiculously overpriced is another problem. Bad enough to wear something that screams PARIS, but to be swindled at 2000% profit, is not my idea of a good time. But I must be somewhat alone, as people were grabbing anything and everything they could buy with a PARIS logo. To each his own. Now, my 4 stars go to those vendors who are selling true art, gorgeous jewelry and home decor that actually was made in France, and isn't so ungodly overpriced. There's a few such booths that are worth following them around to other markets such as Randolph Street market on August 29-30 and/or the Wheaton market on any given summer weekend. Looking for cool vendors selling unique, kitschy, gorgeous, things - The Winding Road sells "interesting things from interesting places." Can't get to Nepal or Morocco anytime soon? Owner Marla Showfer has wonderful gifts for you, your family and all your friends. AND, her prices are very, very fair! Beautiful bags, boxes, scarves, purses, straw to decorate and add interest and color to your home! Dorn Cheske Jewelry Designs out of LaGrange Park has the most gorgeous handmade silver bracelets! If I could, I would have bought at least 6. Instead, I bought a French coin bracelet made of old coins that were puffed out and reconfigured to the most beautiful bracelet ever. There was a tea maker from Naperville that made fresh iced tea as you wait. Delicious! Makes me want to pitch all my premade teas and start with a French press on my own.