Things to do in Chicago today
The day's best things to do in Chicago—including free and cheap activities, concerts, screenings, shows, parties and more. It's your social emergency savior.
Looking for something to do this evening? Have a friend coming into town who wants to see the sights? You're in luck, because Chicago is a city filled with attractions and things to do (including some that cost absolutely nothing). Seize the moment with our list of today's best concerts, shows, activities and more.
Best things to do in Chicago today
Oddities Flea Market
Brooklyn's Oddities Flea Market comes to Stan Mansion in Logan Square and presents a two day shopping experience where visitors can find everything from taxidermy to vintage medical instruments. The list of vendors was currated by Ryan Matthew Cohn and includes local favorites like Wooly Mammoth Antiques and Sideshow Gallery in addition to Brooklyn Taxidermy, Scientificwoman and many, many more. Kids 10 and under are admitted for free with the purchase of an adult ticket and a special VIP allows you to start browsing the collection of goods up to two hours early.
Wizard World Chicago Comic Con
It might sound like a Harry Potter convention, but Wizard World is an event that celebrates every facet of pop culture, including comic books, film and television. Rosemont's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center hosts the annual gathering, where attendees can line up for autographs, attend panels or shop for merchandise.
wndr museum
Step inside one of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's famous Infinity Mirror Rooms at this pop-up exhibition, which features installations that blend art and science. The latest "chapter" of wndr museum features a lineup of new installations (giving previous visitors a reason to come back), focusing on works that utilize technology. Among the new experiences are a room lined with LED walls that guests can "draw" on with water, a series of abstract shapes that guests can project images onto and an interactive dance station that replicates and manipulates your moves on a screen. You'll also find a two-story rainbow slide and murals by local artists Mac Blackout and Lauren Asta. The latest iteration of wndr museum will stick around for "limited, yet undetermined amount of time," so squeeze in a visit while the current batch of installations is on display.
Chicago Jazz Festival
Some of the biggest names in jazz come to Chicago for a series of shows at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park during this annual festival. This year's lineup features the Art Ensemble of Chicago, jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, legendary pianist Eddie Palmieri and a tribute to Nat King Cole (led by his brother, Freddy Cole). In the week leading up to the festival, you'll be able to catch free shows at venues like Constellation, Hungry Brain and PianoForte Chicago.
Bristol Renaissance Faire
Game of Thrones is over, but you can fill the medieval void in your life with a trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, which recreates a 16th-century port city (call is King's Landing, if you like). You'll find knights in shining armor, jousting archery, Cornish pasties and dubious English accents throughout the grounds. Plus, for an additional fee you can join in on immersive RenQuest theatrical gaming experience, interacting with characters to complete quests and solve mysteries.
Randolph Street Market Festival
More than 100 vendors hawk their antique housewares, furniture, ephemera, clothing and more at this indoor-outdoor festival. Stop in for vintage clothes and jewelry, a vinyl swap meet, a fancy food market and global goods bazaar or bring your own items for appraisal. This event typically occurs on the last weekend of each month. During the warm-weather months of May–September, the market adds an outdoor area, offering even more vintage shopping and a beer garden.
Art on theMART
Every night, a 25-story-tall video installation takes over the side of the Merchandise Mart, filling the building's historic facade with vibrant colors and moving images. Harnessing 34 digital projectors, the show features work by a rotating lineup of artists and is best viewed from Wacker Drive or the Riverwalk, between Wells and Orleans Streets. Art on theMART lights up the night Monday through Sunday, with projections beginning approximately 15 minutes after sunset.
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Review by Dave Calhoun The sort of high-wire, playfully enjoyable riff on movies that only Quentin Tarantino could get away with, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is a massively fun shaggy-dog story that blends fact and fiction, inserting made-up characters at the heart of real, horrible events (Charles Manson horrible) and then daring history to do its worst. Sitting at the mature, Jackie Brown end of Tarantino’s work, the film is also a love letter to Los Angeles and the film industry, bringing his tongue-in-cheek storytelling together with exquisite craft and killer lead performances from Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. And yet, it’s still very much a Tarantino film, trading in genuine emotion one minute, unapolegetically silly the next. Tarantino starts with Hollywood in the era of the Manson murders—specifically, the slaying of starlet Sharon Tate and her friends in August 1969—and retells the story on his own terms, first over a few days in February 1969 and then, six months later, over the weekend of the killings. That means we’re spending nearly the whole movie wondering how this director is going to deal with the actual historical tragedy. For the answer to that, you’ll just have to sweat it out. Let’s just say this: Tarantino somehow manages to carve good taste out of bad. Nonfictional characters pop up throughout: the doomed Tate (Margot Robbie), Nixon-era celebrities Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis) and Bruce Lee (Mike Moh), the Manson gang (one of whom is played by
Chicago Jazz Festival
Some of the biggest names in jazz come to Chicago for a series of shows at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park during this annual festival. This year's lineup features the Art Ensemble of Chicago, jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, legendary pianist Eddie Palmieri and a tribute to Nat King Cole (led by his brother, Freddy Cole). In the week leading up to the festival, you'll be able to catch free shows at venues like Constellation, Hungry Brain and PianoForte Chicago.
Taste of Greektown
Enjoy the feta, tzatziki, roasted chicken and more signature Mediterranean flavors at this three-day festival in Greektown, where you'll find lots of tasty dishes cooked by some of the neighborhood's most beloved restaurants. Stick around for performances from Greek and American bands, traditional Hellenic dancing and performances by the Jesse White Tumbling Team.
Art on theMART
Every night, a 25-story-tall video installation takes over the side of the Merchandise Mart, filling the building's historic facade with vibrant colors and moving images. Harnessing 34 digital projectors, the show features work by a rotating lineup of artists and is best viewed from Wacker Drive or the Riverwalk, between Wells and Orleans Streets. Art on theMART lights up the night Monday through Sunday, with projections beginning approximately 15 minutes after sunset.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
The YA favorite becomes an unusually thoughtful entry in today's wave of kid-centric retro horror
Good Boys
Tweens just wanna have fun in a profane comedy that plays off its cast's innocence
Blinded by the Light
A British-Pakistani teen finds himself born to run in a deliriously evoked 1980s
The Dead Don't Die
Jim Jarmusch’s playful stab at the zombie movie is a languid, undercooked affair
Yesterday
There’s a lot that’s mind-bendingly corny about this peppy “what-if?” musical comedy
Annabelle Comes Home
You can tell from the sluggish, mostly dull Annabelle Comes Home that the Warrens have seen it all.
Spider-Man: Far from Home
Spidey's latest flick works best when it plays like a vacation from MCU seriousness.
Child's Play
What could have been a fan-savvy update reveals itself to be a plastic retread
Dark Phoenix
The farewell to the current incarnation of the X-Men franchise never quite catches fire