Arts and crafts festivals

• Chicago Antiques Fair
• Bucktown Arts Fest
• 57th Street Art Fair
  57th Street Art Fair
  The 57th Street Art Fair is Chicago's oldest juried art fair. Founded in 1948, it is held the first weekend in June every year on 57th Street between Kimbark and Kenwood Avenues, in the Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park, directly north of the University of Chicago campus...
  
  
• Canal Street Art Fair
• Gold Coast Art Fair
• Wicker Park Bucktown Arts & Music Festival
• Art Chicago
  Art Chicago
  Art Chicago is an international contemporary art exhibition held each year in Chicago, Illinois. It is Chicago's longest-running and only remaining major contemporary art exposition.-History:...
  
  
• Green Apple Music & Arts Festival
  Green Apple Music & Arts Festival
  The Green Apple Festival, now in its fourth year, is America’s largest Earth Day Celebration. Its mission is to involve audiences of all ages in celebrating Earth Day, raising local and environmental awareness, educating individuals on environmental issues, hosting cultural events suitable for a...
  
  
• Manifest
  Manifest (urban arts festival)
  Manifest is an "urban arts festival" put on by Columbia College Chicago to showcase the works of graduate students and seniors from the many departments of the college. Started in 2002, activities at Manifest include gallery shows, musical performances, screenings, readings, and various other...
  
  
• Select Media Festival
  Select Media Festival
  Select Media Festival is a arts and media festival which occurs in Chicago, usually in the fall.-See also:*Terry Plumming*Lumpen Magazine*Versionfest*Vice Magazine*Victory Auto Wreckers-External links:**...
  
  
• Versionfest

Community festivals and celebrations

• Andersonville Midsommarfest
• North Halsted Market Days
  North Halsted Market Days
  North Halsted Market Days is an annual two-day festival in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is the Midwest's largest street festival with annual attendance exceeding 300,000 people over the two day event, takes place in the Boystown section of Lakeview along North Halsted Street from Belmont Avenue to...
  
  
• Goose Island Fest
• Jeff Fest
• Retro On Roscoe

Culture, heritage and folk festivals

• Taste of Polonia
  Taste of Polonia
  The Taste of Polonia is a Chicago festival held at the Copernicus Cultural and Civic Center in the Jefferson Park community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States every Labor Day weekend since 1979. It is the Copernicus Foundation's major fundraiser and a four-day celebration of...
  
  - Chicago Polonia's
  Poles in Chicago
  Chicago Polonia, refers to both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage living in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide Polonia, the proper term for the Polish Diaspora outside of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago...
  
   leading event, a four-day celebration of Polish cultural heritage, traditions, and customs on the grounds of the Copernicus Foundation
  Copernicus Foundation
  The Copernicus Foundation is a 501 not for profit organization based in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by Poles in Chicago in 1971 in order to raise funds towards raising a monument for the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus to be set in front of the Adler...
  
   in Jefferson Park
  Jefferson Park, Chicago
  Jefferson Park is one of Chicago's 77 well-defined community areas located on the city's Northwest Side. The neighborhood of Jefferson Park occupies a larger swath of territory than the community area by including within it land of adjacent community areas...
  
  
• Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic - Chicago's main African American public event
• Chicago Turkish Festival May 23-26,2010 Daley Plaza
• Celtic Fest Chicago
  Celtic Fest Chicago
  Celtic Fest Chicago is held the second weekend of May in Chicago's Millennium Park. It had previously been held in the second week in September, the first one having been held in the third week in September 1997 on Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard in Grant Park...
  
   - a cultural celebration of the ancient Celtic nations of Ireland. Held during the second weekend of September in Grant Park.
• Von Steuben Day
  Von Steuben Day
  Von Steuben Day is a holiday traditionally held on a weekend in mid-September , celebrating Baron Friedrich von Steuben, who arrived in the United States as a volunteer offering his services to General George Washington, and is generally considered the German-American event of the year...
  
  
• Polish Constitution Day Parade
  Polish Constitution Day Parade
  The Polish Constitution Day Parade in Chicago is the largest Polish parade outside of Poland, and celebrates the anniversary of the ratification of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, which historian Norman Davies calls "the first constitution of its kind in Europe".For 115 years, Polonia's...
  
  
• Midwest Buddhist Temple Ginza Holiday Festival
  Midwest Buddhist Temple Ginza Holiday Festival
  The Ginza Holiday Festival is a large annual Japanese cultural festival that occurs on the second weekend, Friday to Sunday, of August at 435 W. Menomonee Street in Chicago’s historic Old Town, Chicago. The Midwest Buddhist Temple has kept this annual event going since 1955.Highlighting the event...
  
  

Film festivals

• Chicago International Film Festival
  Chicago International Film Festival
  The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
  
   - an annual film festival
  Film festival
  A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
  
   which is one of North America's oldest film events. The event is held every October.
• Chicago Underground Film Festival
  Chicago Underground Film Festival
  Chicago Underground Film Festival, founded in 1994, occurs each spring at various venues in Chicago, Illinois in the USA.Over the last 18 years it has become one of the most respected festivals in the USA and is today well attended by critics and programers. The festival's stated goal is "to focus...
  
   - an annual film festival
  Film festival
  A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
  
   focusing on underground film
  Underground film
  An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing.-Definition and history:The first use of the term "underground film" occurs in a 1957 essay by American film critic Manny Farber, "Underground Films." Farber uses it to refer to the work of...
  
  , experimental film
  Experimental film
  Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
  
   and video art
  Video art
  Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
  
  .
• Chicago Latino Film Festival
  Chicago Latino Film Festival
  The Chicago Latino Film Festival is a U.S. film festival, focusing on Latin America and Latinos. Held annually in Chicago since 1985, it is organized by the International Latino Cultural Center and sponsored by a number of national corporations as well as by the local Hispanic and Latino community...
  
  
• Chicago International Children's Film Festival
  Chicago International Children's Film Festival
  Founded in 1975, Facets Multi-Media, located at 1517 W. Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, 60614 Facets Multi-Media is the largest conservator dedicated to the exhibition, distribution & education of foreign, independent & classic cinema...
  
  
• Chicago Outdoor Film Festival
  Chicago Outdoor Film Festival
  The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival has been showing classic films in Chicago's Grant Park for 10 years. For seven consecutive evenings in the summer people gather around a gigantic screen and enjoy classic American films. 2009 marked the 10th Anniversary of the film festival which begins on July...
  
  
• Chicago Palestine Film Festival
  Chicago Palestine Film Festival
  The Chicago Palestine Film Festival is an annual film festival begun in 2002 in Chicago and is one of the most important venues in the US for the screening of Palestinian cinema. It accepts works in a variety of genres — documentaries, dramas, comedies — in both long and short formats...
  
  
• Midwest Independent Film Festival
  Midwest Independent Film Festival
  The Midwest Independent Film Festival is the nation’s only film festival solely dedicated to the Midwest filmmaker. Only films from the eight-state Midwest region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin are considered for screening...
  
  
• Chicago Festival Of Israeli Cinema

Food festivals

• Taste of Chicago
  Taste of Chicago
  The Taste of Chicago is the world's largest food festival, held annually for ten days in Grant Park, in Chicago starting the Friday before the 4th of July and ending the Sunday after . The event is the largest festival in Chicago...
  
   - the world's largest food festival
  Food festival
  A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. "These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season...
  
   and the largest festival in Chicago. During the event hundreds of restaurateurs sell samples in Grant Park while bands play (usually several headlining acts of nationally popular artists). This event draws millions each year. The event is held annually for 10 days in Chicago
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
   starting Friday before the 4th of July
  Independence Day (United States)
  Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
  
   and ending the Sunday after.

Holiday festivals

• Christkindlmarket
  Christkindlmarket, Chicago
  Christkindlmarket is a Christmas market held annually at Daley Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The festival is part of the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and attracts more than 1 million visitors each year.- History :...
  
  
• AEM's New Year's Eve Gala at Navy Pier
• Saint Patrick's Day parade - The Chicago River turns green!
• Magnificent Mile Lights Festival
  Magnificent Mile Lights Festival
  The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival is a holiday festival that takes place annually the Saturday before Thanksgiving along Chicago's Magnificent Mile...
  
  
• Spooky Zoo Spectacular
  Spooky Zoo Spectacular
  The Spooky Zoo Spectacular is an annual event at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, held around or on Halloween. The purpose of the event is to provide a safe environment for children, particularly those living in Chicago's lower income neighborhoods, to trick or treat...
  
  

LGBT Festivals

• Chicago Pride Parade
  Chicago Pride Parade
  The Chicago Pride Parade, also colloquially called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade or PRIDE Chicago, is the annual gay pride parade held on the last Sunday of June in Chicago, Illinois in the United States...
  
   - A parade to celebrate being gay or celebrate those who are gay. Similar to all pride parades in major cities around the world. Runs on N. Halsted St. in Lakeview for most of the parade.

Music festivals

• Lollapalooza
  Lollapalooza
  Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
  
   - An American music festival featuring alternative rock, hip hop, and punk rock bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. Lollapalooza has featured a diverse range of bands and has helped expose and popularize alternative groups such as Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Hole.It is held for three days at the start of August at Grant Park.
• Pitchfork Music Festival
  Pitchfork Music Festival
  The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by Pitchfork Media and held in Union Park in Chicago, IL. The festival, which is normally held over three days in July, focuses primarily on artists and bands from alternative rock, rap & hip-hop, electronica, and dance...
  
   - an annual summer music festival
  Music festival
  A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
  
   organized by Pitchfork Media
  Pitchfork Media
  Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
  
   held in Union Park, Chicago
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
  .
• Chicago Blues Festival
  Chicago Blues Festival
  The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the City of Chicago Mayor's Office of Special Events, and always occurs in early June...
  
   - an annual event that features four days of performances by top-tier blues
  Blues
  Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
  
   musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. The event is held annually in early June and takes place in Grant Park
  Grant Park (Chicago)
  Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
  
  .
• Chicago Jazz Festival
  Chicago Jazz Festival
  The Chicago Jazz Festival is a popular and well-known four day free celebration of jazz at Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park in downtown Chicago. It is run by the Jazz Institute of Chicago during Labor Day weekend, integrating both world-famous and local artists...
  
   - a popular and well-known four day free celebration of jazz which integrates both world-famous and local artists playing a wide variety of jazz
  Jazz
  Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
  
   music. The event is held in Grant Park
  Grant Park (Chicago)
  Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
  
   during the Labor Day
  Labor Day
  Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
  
   weekend.
• Grant Park Music Festival
  Grant Park Music Festival
  Grant Park Music Festival is an annual ten-week classical music concert series held in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It features the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Grant Park Chorus along with featured guest performers and conductors. The Festival has earned non-profit organization status...
  
   - a series of free outdoor classical music
  Classical music
  Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
  
   concerts series held in the Millennium Park
  Millennium Park
  Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
  
   during the summer.
• Chicago Country Music Festival
• Chicago Dancing Festival
• Chicago Gospel Music Festival
• Rogers Park Jazz Series
• Alehorn of Power
  Alehorn of Power
  Alehorn of Power is an independently organized metal festival held annually in Chicago, Illinois since 2006.-History:The festival is organized by Greg Spalding, who is the drummer of Bible of the Devil and who worked for the Tone Deaf Touring booking agency.-2009:Held on August 5 at Cobra Lounge in...
  
  
• ChicagoFest
  ChicagoFest
  ChicagoFest was a summer music festival in the city of Chicago,started in 1978 by Mayor Michael Bilandic. It was held annually at Navy Pier, and lasted for roughly two weeks. It featured sixteen separate stages, each sponsored by a national retail brand and a media sponsor compatible to the stage's...
  
  
• Intonation Music Festival
  Intonation Music Festival
  The Intonation Music Festival was a yearly summer music festival held at in Chicago, Illinois.-2005:The festival was held on July 16 - July 17, 2005...
  
  
• Midwest Clinic

Science fiction festivals

• Capricon
  Capricon
  Capricon is an annual, four-day-long science fiction convention in a suburb of Chicago, which draws approximately 900+ people. Capricon attendees share an interest in science , science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. The Capricon convention has been held each year since 1981...
  
   - an annual, four-day-long science fiction convention
  Science fiction convention
  Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of various forms of speculative fiction including science fiction and fantasy. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies and...
  
   in a suburb of Chicago
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
  .

Sports festivals

• Chicago Marathon
  Chicago Marathon
  The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is a major marathon held yearly in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Alongside the Boston, New York, London and Berlin Marathons, it is one of the five World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also an IAAF Gold Label race...
  
   - a major marathon
  Marathon
  The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
  
   held annually in Chicago. It is one of the five World Marathon Majors
  World Marathon Majors
  The World Marathon Majors is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. It comprises five annual races for the cities of Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, and New York City. Two other races are also included in the series: the IAAF World Championships Marathon and...
  
  . The event is held annually in early October.
• Crosstown Classic
• Bike The Drive
  Bike The Drive
  Bike The Drive is a recreational, non-competitive bicycle ride held each year in Chicago, in which Lake Shore Drive is cleared of motor vehicle traffic and opened exclusively to bicyclists for several hours beginning at dawn. The event benefits bicycling advocacy work in the region by the Active...
  
  
• Boulevard Lakefront Tour
  Boulevard Lakefront Tour
  The Boulevard Lakefront Tour is a non-competitive bicycle ride on Lake Shore Drive and neighborhood communities in downtown Chicago, Illinois, presented by the law firm of Schwartz Cooper and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation...
  
  
• Chicago to Mackinac Boat Race
  Chicago to Mackinac Boat Race
  The Chicago to Mackinac Sailboat Race is run by the Chicago Yacht Club. It is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world, with hundreds of boats entering the race each year. It starts off the mouth of the Chicago River in Chicago, crosses Lake Michigan, barely enters Lake Huron, and finishes...
  
  

Transportation festivals

• Chicago Air & Water Show
  Chicago Air & Water Show
  The Chicago Air & Water Show is an annual air show held on the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois. The show has been held each year since 1959 and is Chicago's second most popular festival...
  
   - One of the world's premier aviation events which includes a wide array of military and civilian acts.
• Chicago Auto Show
  Chicago Auto Show
  The Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago's McCormick Placeconvention complex. It is among the largest auto shows in North America....
  
   - The largest auto show
  Auto show
  An auto show, or motor show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is commonly attended by automobile manufacturers. Most auto shows occur once or twice a year...
  
   in North America and the third largest auto show in the world. It consists of over 1,000 vehicles on display. Over one million visitors attend the event each year. The event is held annually in February at Chicago
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
  's McCormick Place
  McCormick Place
  McCormick Place is the largest convention center in the United States. It is made up of four interconnected buildings sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 4 km south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show,...
  
   convention complex.
• Tall Ships
• Chicago Venetian Night