2008 Chicago Official Visitors Guide - (Page 20) Spring/Summer ’08 calendar Loop Tour Train Saturdays, May–Sept. Starts at the Chicago Cultural Center www.cityofchicago.org/culturalaffairs Take a free, 40-minute tour of Chicago’s business district where internationally renowned buildings reach the sky. Learn about the area’s 100-year history and the city’s elevated train system, known to Chicagoans as the ‘L’. The tour is guided by Chicago Architecture Foundation docents. Admission for the tour is free on a first-come, first-served basis. Great Chicago Places & Spaces Architecture Festival May 17–18 Registration at 224 S. Michigan Ave. Various Locations, www.greatchicagoplaces.us ▲ May–Sept. Chicago Lakefront www.chicagoparkdistrict.com Chicago’s 29 miles of shoreline provide 15 miles of beaches that open Memorial Day and close on Labor Day. Oak Street Beach (pictured) offers visitors sand volleyball courts, sun-bathing and sandcastle-making opportunities. Chicago Gospel Music Festival May 30–June 1 Millennium Park www.chicagogospelmusicfestival.us The festival celebrates and honors the social and historical significance of gospel music. Annually, the festival boasts a lineup consisting of the stars of gospel music from around the country and the Chicagoland area. ▲ Chicago Blues Festival June 5–8 Grant Park www.chicagobluesfestival.us The Chicago Blues Festival is the largest freeadmission blues festival in the world. This four-day event offers the biggest in national, international and local blues entertainment on six stages, with more than 70 performers. Grant Park Music Festival Mid June–Late Aug. Millennium Park www.grantparkmusicfestival.com The nation’s only remaining free, municipally funded, outdoor classical music concert series featuring the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus is held in Millennium Park. A variety of celebrated ensembles and musicians representing many musical genres and cultures are programmed most Wed.–Sat. throughout the summer. Tony Fitzpatrick: The Wonder – Portraits of a Remembered City May 2–June 29 Chicago Cultural Center – Yates Gallery www. chicagoculturalcenter.org Tony Fitzpatrick is not merely a Chicago artist but an institution — an accomplished poet, actor, boxer and raconteur, among other roles. But foremost, he is a champion of Chicago and its rich history. This project is a love poem to the city and to his childhood memories, in which text and images are combined and collaged with real pieces of Chicago history to tell both a personal story and a history of the town he loves. This exhibition includes a substantial sampling from the series that was illustrated in three of his books. Outdoor Music Concerts June–Sept. Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island www.charteronepavilion.com The buzz surrounding this scenic venue and the charm of Chicago have attracted a strong list of performers this season. The summer’s line up includes: classic rock, hiphop, ethnic shows, indie rock, a family-friendly children’s series and much, much more. Opening June 26 United Center Parking Lot K www.cirquedusoleil.com Cirque du Soleil continues their trademark acrobatics and clowning, creating a beautiful language of movement in their performance of Kooza. This show combines two circus traditions — acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor. pg 20 ▲ Cirque du Soleil Presents Kooza ▲ ▲ Chicago Beaches Chicago’s vast architectural resources and incomparable design are the focus of the only architectural festival of its kind in the United States. The festival offers free walking, trolley, bike and boat tours. Take a tour of many of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods, monuments and landscapes including the very impressive IIT McCormick Tribune Campus Center (pictured). ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.