Courtesy of the folks at Choose Chicago, the city’s official CVB, here’s a look at several fantastic fairs and festivals that groups visiting during warmer months are sure to love.
Summer Shindigs
- Taste of Chicago (July 9-13, 2014): Chicago is serious about food. Be prepared to get your grub on at the annual Taste of Chicago, the world’s largest outdoor food festival, in Grant Park. For five days, live music, children’s activities and upward of 3 million visitors makes this event the hottest party in the city.
- Chicago Blues Festival (June 13-15, 2014): Enjoy the largest free blues festival in the world. Five stages and more than 500,000 blues fans take over Grant Park, proving our city is the “Blues Capital of the World.” Past performers include Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor.
- Chicago Jazz Festival (Aug. 28-31, 2014): Join hundreds of thousands in celebrating Chicago’s rich jazz history in this free event, the first of which began as a tribute to Duke Ellington in 1974. Currently the largest free festival of its kind in the world, the Chicago Jazz Festival regularly draws top names in the genre.
- Chicago Gospel Music Festival (June 27-29, 2014): Enjoy exhilarating music by renowned Gospel artists during this free festival at the Chicago Cultural Center and Ellis Park. Stages will showcase the best in local, national and international gospel performers.
- Lollapalooza (Aug. 1-3, 2014): Each year in August, more than 100 bands and musicians representing some of the biggest names in alternative, hip hop, punk and pop gather in Grant Park for one loud, heart-stopping three-day event. You won’t find any other music festival with a more fitting moniker than Lollapalooza, Chicago’s grandest stage for music legends from across the globe.
Fall Fete
- The Great Chicago Fire Festival (Oct. 4, 2014): New to the city this year, this festival will feature a grand procession and fire spectacle on the main branch of the Chicago River. The celebration will highlight Chicago’s newly developed riverfront and feature acrobatics, live music, wild mechanical objects and much more.