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67 exciting openings in Chicago in October

Written by
Madeline Wolfson
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There’s more to do than ever this October in Chicago. In addition to some of our favorite fall events like the Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago Ideas Week and Humanities Fest, we get our first-ever Museum Week and Architecture Biennial, plus tons of Halloween festivities, restaurant openings, concerts and shows. Get ready to cheer on runners at the Chicago Marathon, get down with the club kids at Freaky Deaky and then try to leave time to get lost in a corn maze or take a trip to a nearby apple orchard. Pack your calendar with our list of the best openings in Chicago in October.

THINGS TO DO

Oct 1–7: Take advantage of the bounty of deals and events featured at Chicago’s first Museum Week at 12 of the city’s top institutions.

Oct 1–Dec 31: The Chicago Architecture Biennial brings us a citywide event featuring months of installations and events exploring the state of architecture.

Oct 2: Electro-pop musician Dan Deacon headlines the latest MCA Primetime after-hours event themed “Vibes.”

Oct 2 & 3: Take an artsy stroll this weekend at the West Town Art Walk, where you can take in an awesome array of pieces by local artists.

Oct 2–4: Learn about the food you’re eating and get the scoop on all the latest restaurant trends from the city’s top chefs at Taste Talks Chicago, including Girl and the Goat’s Stephanie Izard.  

Oct 2–Nov 1: Get seriously spooked in the ‘burbs at this Disturbia Screams in the Park terrifying attraction.   

Oct 2–4: Knitting gets a makeover at Vogue Knitting Live, where enthusiasts wind through the marketplace or take classes and workshops.

Oct 7: Advance your mind and your palate at Evolution at Revolution as the Field Museum teams up with the Chicago brewery. This month, pair a cold Rev brew with South Pole talk from Pete Makovicky, associate curator of paleontology.

Oct 9: Mark your calendar for one of Pilsen’s best free events and go gallery hopping at the Chicago Arts District Second Friday Gallery Night.

Oct 11: On your mark, get set, go cheer your butt off at the Chicago Marathon, or heck, run it yourself!  

Oct 12–18: Learn to bake with Bang Bang Pie Shop, learn to lead under pressure with General Petraeus and hear what Common has to say about music, violence, race and keeping the peace at Chicago Ideas Week.

Oct 15: Things get darker than ever at this month’s Adler After Dark: Nightmare event, where you will face the terrifying contemplation of the beginning and endings of our universe—or just bust a move on the Halloween dance floor. The choice is yours!

Oct 17: Sample superior chai blends, experience Pakistani BBQ and indulge in Indian breakfast and markets on the Devon Food Tour.

Oct 17 & 18: Open House Chicago hands over the key to 200 architecturally significant buildings across the city in a totally free, extra-access event.

Oct 18: Don’t miss your last chance to shop the retro spread of Vintage Garage before the monthly event goes into hibernation.

Oct 20: Spend a full day with our city’s favorite architect on the Wright in the Modern Workspace tour of the SC Johnson Administration Building and Research Tower to see how our boy Frank reimagined the workspace.

Oct 23–25: Map collectors and admirers chart a course to the Chicago International Map Fair this weekend.

Oct 24: There’s a new Halloween event in town that’s putting the art back in Halloween p-art-y. The Halloween Gathering promises a day of artistic activities like paper mache mask-making and a zombie “Thriller” dance sesh.

Oct 26–31: Old Town Restaurant Week serves up a week of special menus, cooking demonstrations and dining deals in the historic neighborhood.

Oct 29: Hear thoughtful conversation revolving around the female experience at Gloria Steinem in Conversation with Roxane Gay, and don’t forget to preorder Steinem’s memoir My Life on the Road to attend.

Oct 31: When it comes to costumes on parade, there’s no contest for favorite. Head to Boystown’s Northalsted Halloween Parade for this best October tradition.

FESTIVALS

Oct 2–4: Down Goose Island brews and Publican brats at Rocktober Beerfest as you savor the last days of Oktoberfestivities.

Oct 3: It’s fall y’all, and the Lincoln Square Apple Fest is the place to get your fill of the season’s favorite fruit by the bushel.

Oct 15: The Kickstarter Film Festival takes over the the Music Box Theatre with a terrific crowd-funded lineup, including vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows.

Oct 15–Oct 29: Choose from an amazing schedule of more than 130 films, with everything from hidden gem indies to Cannes-winning breakouts, at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Oct 24: Fill up on one of America’s favorite comfort foods at the Mac & Cheese Fest and find out who takes home the coveted Golden Noodle.

Oct 24–Nov 8: Theater geeks, news junkies and pretty much anyone who loves to learn from top minds can find a speaker and topic to suit their interest at this year’s Chicago Humanities Festival.

RESTAURANTS

Oct 9: A new build-your-own pizza spot partly owned by Umami Burger, 800 Degrees, opens an Evanston location.

Mid Oct: Firecakes Donuts opens its second location at 2453 N Clark St in Lincoln Park.

Oct: Swift & Sons, a steakhouse helmed by chef Chris Pandel (The Bristol, Balena), opens in the West Loop.

Oct: Latinicity, chef Richard Sandoval’s Latin-focused food hall, opens in Block 37 with a tapas restaurant, wine bar and market.

End of Oct: Beatrix will open its second location in the old Cicchetti space in Streeterville.

Note: Restaurant openings are subject to change and can be delayed; call ahead before setting out.

BARS

Oct 11: The Streeterville Target will take advantage of its liquor license by serving drinks.

First week of Oct: Farm Bar opens in Lakeview with small plates, burgers and salads in addition to nearly Midwest-only wine, beer and cider.

Late Oct to early Nov: Forbidden Root will open up its brewpub space in West Town.

Late Oct to early Nov: Alinea alumni Craig Sindelar and Michael Carroll open their own brewpub, Band of Bohemia, with chef Matt DuBois (formerly of EL Ideas).

Note: Bar openings are subject to change and can be delayed; call ahead before setting out.

ART

Oct 1: Explore the beginnings of German Expressionism at the Smart Museum’s  Expressionist Impulses: German and Central European Art, 1980-1990”.

Oct 15: The Museum of Contemporary Photography’s group show, “The Grace of Intention Photography, Architecture and the Monument” presents images that reinterpret these structures and demonstrate how symbolic meaning shifts over time.

Oct 17: The Art Institute celebrates its very own alumni with “Homegrown: The School of the Art Institute in the Permanent Collection,” displaying more than 120 works of art by the school’s own top talent, like magic realist painter Ivan Albright and Playboy illustrator LeRoy Neiman.

MOVIES

Oct 2: Ridley Scott’s The Martian, starring Matt Damon, revamps the space mission epic with a truly awesome film that will have you laughing, cheering and not even loathing your 3D glasses.  

Oct 9: With Danny Boyle directing, Aaron Sorkin screenwriting, Michael Fassbender starring and Seth Rogen sidekicking, we have higher hopes for the second stab at the Steve Jobs biopic.

Oct 9: Robert Zemeckis (Castaway, Forrest Gump) visually effects–heavy The Walk tells the true story of Philippe Petit’s dangerous tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. Joseph Gordon Levitt stars as the fearless French acrobat in this vertigo-inducing retelling.

Oct 16: Spielberg teams up with Hank (again) in the highly anticipated Cold War–era drama Bridge of Spies, based on the true story of James Donovan, an American lawyer chosen by the CIA to defend KGB spy Rudolf Abel and to negotiate the release of a U.S. pilot.  

Oct 23: Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter bring the fight for women’s equality in Britain alive in Suffragette.

Oct 23: Bill Murray stars as a past-his-prime music manager who ends up in Afghanistan, where he discovers an unexpected talent in the comedy Rock the Kasbah.

MUSIC

Oct 2: Prepare for a barrage of irregular tempos and cascading guitar lines as NYC math rock trio Battles comes to Metro.

Oct 8: Like some kind of art rock Voltron, Franz Ferdinand and Sparks combine forces and dole out cheeky pop songs as FFS.

Oct 15: Disclosure throws a giant dance party at Navy Pier, bringing a crate of new tunes from the duo's sophomore album, Caracal.

Oct 16: Legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder returns to the United Center to play his classic record Songs In The Key of Life in its entirety.

Oct 22 & 23: Philadelphian troubadour Kurt Vile demonstrates his six-string prowess during a two-night stand at Thalia Hall.

Oct 25: Local radio station 107.5 WGCI brings a stacked lineup to its annual Big Jam, including Kendrick Lamar, Future and Meek Mills.

Oct 30–Nov 1: Freaky Deaky brings a three-day EDM-centric Halloween party to Toyota Park, featuring sets from Bassnectar, Armin Van Buuren and more.

THEATER

Oct 1–Nov 22: The Gift Theatre stages Good for Otto, a world premiere by Tony-winning playwright David Rabe about a Connecticut psychologist and his patients.

Oct 7–Jan 17: Sail to Treasure Island in Mary Zimmerman’s new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s swashbuckling adventure tale.

Oct 14–Nov 8: Northlight Theatre debuts Philip Dawkins’s new play Charm, about an LGBTQ charm school run by a transgender woman.

Oct 21–Feb 21: Jordan Harrison’s comedy Marjorie Prime imagines a future in which holograms of our lost loved ones can adapt to our deteriorating memories.

Oct 24–Dec 19: TimeLine Theatre Company’s Spill takes a documentary-style look at the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

COMEDY

Oct 2: Prolific stand-up Greg Fitzsimmons visits Evanston as part of the Lincoln Lodge’s new satellite program at SPACE.

Oct 3: Outspoken comedian Margaret Cho returns to town on her psyCHO Tour.

Oct 8–10: Insomniac no more, the hardworking Dave Attell puts in three nights at UP Comedy Club.

Oct 10: The excellently exasperated Lewis Black channels his anger at the Chicago Theatre.

Oct 13–18: The seventh annual EPIC Fest—Edison Park’s Infectious Comedy Fest—brings a week’s worth of stand-up to the Far Northwest Side neighborhood.

Oct 17: Nerd’s nerd Brian Posehn puts in an appearance at Beat Kitchen.

DANCE

Oct 3: River North Dance Chicago's fall program celebrates the 23-year tenure of retiring artistic director Frank Chaves, with revivals of five repertory works.

Oct 10–17: Aerial Dance Chicago and Elements Contemporary Ballet collaborate on AYA, an evening-length aerial ballet.

Oct 14–25: The Joffrey Ballet presents the North American premiere of Sylvia, John Neumeier’s 1997 reimagining of the 19th-century ballet.

Oct 15–18: Hubbard Street Dance’s Fall Series is devoted to contemporary choreographer William Forsythe.

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