Chicago's Hottest Things-To-Do

Long-Running Major Museum Exhibits, Most-Popular Theatre Performances, Exciting Events
If you are only in town for a short while, these are some of the "Must-See's" to include in your Chicago plans. They are major events in the city, but have a limited engagement. They belong on your short-list of things-to-see. Included among them are traveling exhibits, major theatre productions as well as other uniquely-Chicago events. Some are seasonal in nature, but all are worth a look. They are either here now or are coming soon.

Chicago Dine-Around - Progressive Dining Tour

Chicago Dine-Around Progressive Dining Tour Embark on a culinary adventure to Chicago’s finest restaurants. Guests are chauffeured around the city in a stylish coach bus to enjoy the following:
 
Hors D'oeuvres served at the first restaurant.
 
The Main Course at a second restaurant. 
 
Dessert at a third restaurant.
 For reservations, call 312-437-3463 (DINE), or visit us online.

Dates Name Description
MUSEUM EXHIBITS & SPECIAL EVENTS

The Field Museum - 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive - Chicago, IL 60605 - (312) 922-9410

Open Run Underground Adventure There's more to soil than meets the eye. The world of soil is a rich habitat for many amazing creatures. What do you think life would be like if you lived underground? You've come to the right place to find out!
Open Run The Ancient Americas The Field Museum’s ground-breaking new exhibition, The Ancient Americas, takes you on a journey through 13,000 years of human ingenuity and achievement in the western hemisphere, where hundreds of diverse societies thrived long before the arrival of Europeans.
Mar 5 - Sep 6 Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age
Journey back to the Ice Age through monumental video installations, roam among saber-toothed cats and giant bears, and wonder over some of the oldest human artifacts in existence.
The Art Institute of Chicago - 111 S. Michigan Ave. - Chicago, IL 60603 - (312) 443-3600
July 25–Oct. 3 Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century The two most important developments in photography in the first half of the 20th century were the emergence of lasting artistic traditions and the rise of mass-circulation picture magazines. Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) was a leading figure in both domains. In the early 1930s, he helped to define photographic modernism, using a handheld camera to snatch beguiling images from fleeting moments of everyday life. After World War II, he turned to photojournalism, and the magic and mystery of his early work gave way to an equally uncanny clarity and completeness.
July 17 - Oct. 3 Arthur Pope and a New Survey of Persian Art In celebration of the opening of the Art Institute’s newly refurbished permanent installation of the art of the Islamic world, the museum proudly presents Arthur Pope and a New Survey of Persian Art. This exhibition will highlight this historically important collection of Persian art, which was developed under the guidance of Arthur Upham Pope (1881–1969).

The Chicago Theatre - 175 N. State St. - Chicago, IL 60601 - (312) 462-6300

Weekly
Mon - Thu, Sat
Marquee Tour Experience one of the last standing movie palaces in the country and see how it became a legendary performance venue.

The Morton Arboretum - 4100 Illinois Rt 53 - Lisle, IL 60532 - (630) 968-0074

Morton Arboretum Events & Activities: June | July | August

     

Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 N. Stockton Drive - Chicago, IL 60614 - (312) 742-7736

May 22 - Sep 26 Summer Tropical Flower Show Visitors can experience a tropical paradise in Chicago at either the Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 N. Stockton Drive, or the Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave this summer. Garfield Park Conservatory’s tropical flower display begins May 29 and runs through September 26. Lincoln Park Conservatory’s tropical flower display begins May 22 and runs through September 26.

Garfield Park Conservatory - 300 N. Central Park Ave. - Chicago, IL 60624 - (312) 746-5100
May 29 - Sep 26 Summer Tropical Flower Show Visitors can experience a tropical paradise in Chicago at either the Lincoln Park Conservatory, 2391 N. Stockton Drive, or the Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave this summer. Garfield Park Conservatory’s tropical flower display begins May 29 and runs through September 26. Lincoln Park Conservatory’s tropical flower display begins May 22 and runs through September 26.

Millennium Park - 201 E. Randolph St.  - Chicago, IL -  (312) 742-1168
Jun 5 - Sep 11
Mondays
Free Workouts Start your summer off refreshed with Millennium Park's free energizing workouts on the Great Lawn of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Workouts are open to people with all levels of experience, are 45 minutes long and will be held from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. every Saturday from June 5 through September 11.

Each week, instructors from will lead classes in Tai Chi at 7 a.m., Yoga sessions at 8 a.m., Pilates workouts at 9 a.m. and Dance Aerobics at 10 a.m. New this year will be live music during the yoga and Pilates classes, played over Millennium Park's state-of-the-art sound system.
Jun 7 - Sep 4
Monday & Saturday
Edible Audible Picnic Edible Audible Picnic, the poly-rhythmic music series returns to Millennium Park at noon this summer, featuring local DJs and live bands as diverse and entrancing as the electronic genre in which they play. This free series expands to include 16 concerts on Mondays and Saturdays at noon, beginning June 7 through September 4. Edible Audible Picnic will feature the experimental, house and bass-thumping sounds of local DJs including Green Velvet, The Cool Kids and All City Affairs. Also on tap will be the international and national sounds of El Guincho, Juan Maclean and Dosh, among others, played over the Park's state-of-the-art sound system.
Jun 9 - Sep 3 Family Fun Festival The Family Fun Festival returns to Millennium Park this summer, making the Park the place to be for kids of all ages. Every day, from June 9 through September 3 between 10AM and 3PM, family performances and hands-on activities will take place in the Family Fun Tent, located on the Park's Chase Promenade North.

Activities in the Family Fun Tent every day include Wiggleworms at 10AM, when instructors from the Old Town School of Folk Music will lead young children in a fun-filled sing-along that will have kids singing and dancing to popular children's favorites from the Wiggleworms program. The Reading Circle follows at 11AM, and concerts by some of the most notable names in local and regional entertainment will take place at 1PM. Throughout the day, the Family Fun tent's Activity Zone will include hands-on craft projects and garden, science and environmental activities led by some of the region's popular museums and cultural institutions.

Adler Planetarium - 1300 S Lake Shore Drive - Chicago, IL 60605-2403 - (312) 922-STAR

Open Run One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure is an original planetarium show based on the popular children's show Sesame Street. Big Bird, Elmo and their friend from China, Hu Hu Zhu, take viewers on a journey of discovery to learn about the Big Dipper, the North Star, the Sun and the Moon.
Open Run Cosmic Collisions Narrated by award-winning actor, director, and producer Robert Redford, Cosmic Collisions launches visitors on an awe-inspiring trip through space and time-well beyond the calm face of the night sky-to explore the hypersonic impacts that drive the continuing evolution of the Universe.

Museum of Science & Industry -57th Street & Lake Shore Dr. -Chicago, IL 60637 - (773) 684-1414

Open Run YOU! The Experience, This 15,000-square-foot permanent exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry is one of the first and largest exhibitions that showcases the connection between the human mind, body and spirit in the 21st century while inviting you to experiment with more than 50 fun, cutting-edge and provocative interactive displays
Open Run Science Storms Science begins with wonder inspired by nature
Why does a tornado spin?
Why does a wave break?
Why does a flame burn?
Why does lightning strike?

Our questions about the world begin almost as soon as we're aware of it. Science can answer the questions, yet science is also the process of asking. The essence of science emerges from this deep human desire to observe the world around us and make sense of nature’s awe-inspiring phenomena. Science Storms is a journey that takes us from wonder to inquiry, curiosity to observation, investigation to understanding.
Mar 4 - Jan 9 '11 Smart Home: Green + Wired

The Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit, a fully-functioning, eco-friendly home on the Museum’s grounds, has been transformed for 2010 by Midwest Living. The home is redesigned to reflect the lifestyle of a couple looking to minimize home maintenance, maximize efficiency and settle in to a space that not only is beautiful, but functional.

John G. Shedd Aquarium - 1200 South Lake Shore Drive - Chicago, IL  60605 - (312) 939-2438
Open Oceanarium - Reimagined Discover the reimagined Oceanarium. Your favorite animals — plus new ones. The Pacific Northwest coast — expanded. And just for kids, Polar Play Zone, where little imaginations can run wild — and grow.

More than ever, the Oceanarium immerses you in the vibrant coastal ecosystem of beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea otters and sea lions. You’ll also find a host of fishes and invertebrates that make their homes where freshwater flows into the ocean or where tides turn seascapes to landscapes and back again each day. Use our self-guided map to discover how animals are linked to each other, their homes and you.
Open Fantasea Dolphins soar, belugas dance, and penguins parade in Fantasea, the new aquatic show at Shedd!
Open Amazon Rising Take an exotic journey in the Amazon, home to one-third of all living things. Watch out for anacondas and piranhas, spiders, rays and crocodiles. See how the region’s animals, plants and people adapt to the water’s dramatic annual rise and fall.
Open Polar Play Zone Kids have a place at Shedd that they can call their own—Polar Play Zone. It’s cool as ice and twice as nice! The penguins think so, too.
Play! Splash! Pretend! What would you like to be? A sleek sliding penguin? A deep-sea explorer? How about both? In Polar Play Zone, you can slip into a penguin suit and try being a bird in the Icy South play area.

Navy Pier - 600 East Grand Avenue - Chicago, IL 60611 - (312) 595-PIER

Open Run Amazing Chicago's Funhouse Maze Navigate your way through 4000 square feet of exhilarating sensory experiences. Lose yourself in the Mirror Maze, stumble your way through the Spinning Tunnel, stomp out the Great Chicago Fire and much more! Find out for yourself why over 1 million guests have gotten lost here.
May 20 - Sep 30 Aeroballoon Chicago See the Chicago Skyline and Lake Michigan From the Air
Floating 350 feet above Navy Pier! Float in silence 35 stories into the air on the Navy Pier AeroBalloon, an anchored, helium-filled, state of the art balloon. The balloon will carry up to 17 passengers at a time for spectacular 360-degree panoramas of a bustling downtown Chicago and a horizon-bending view of Lake Michigan. Fun for the whole family!
May 28 - Sep 6 Cirque Shanghai Cirque Shanghai returns to the Pepsi® Skyline Stage® on Navy Pier for the fifth year with an all-new acrobatic spectacle, Cloud 9, May 28 - September 6. This jaw dropping, eye popping, heart stopping and breathtakingly beautiful show is fun for all ages.

United Center - 1901 West Madison Street - Chicago, IL 60612

Sep. 8 - 12 Disney on Ice - Princess Classics Disney On Ice presents Princess Classics is an amazing journey to the magical lands of Disney’s classic fairy tales. Travel to a kingdom under the sea, an enchanted French castle, an Arabian palace and more! With special guest Tinker Bell, enter the worlds of your favorite Disney princesses – Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Mulan and Snow White – and see their dreams come true as this royal skating extravaganza brings magic to Chicago!

Allstate Arena - 6920 North Mannheim Road - Rosemont, IL 60018

Aug. 28 - Sep. 1 Walking with Dinosaurs Walking with Dinosaurs-The Arena Spectacular is a live adaptation of the award-winning television series Walking with Dinosaurs. Like the aforementioned TV series, The Arena Spectacular has to recreate dinosaurs to the point of the viewers accepting the creatures as real.

Kohl Childrens Museum - 2100 Patriot Blvd. - Glenview, IL 60026
May 26 - Sep 5 Watch US Grow This dynamic live insect exhibit will show visitors the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly, the Illinois state insect.

Things to Do:
 • View four stages of butterfly development: eggs, caterpillars, pupas, and adult butterflies.
 • Compare the live specimens with larger-than-lifesize models.
 • Explore how animals change and adapt through the metamorphosis process.

Pullman State Historic Site - 11111 S. Forrestville Ave. - Chicago, IL 60628 - (773) 660-2341

May 16 - Dec 31 The Great Migration: What They Brought With Them Join us for this special exhibition of photos, documents, artifacts & memorabilia brought to Chicago by Black migrants. For more information please
call 773-291-9115 or email chgoblackhistory@sbcglobal.net

THEATRE PERFORMANCES

Dates Name Location Description
Tickets thru Oct 3rd The Blue Man Group
Premium Tickets
Briar Street Theatre
3133 N Halsted
Chicago, IL
773.348.4000
Featuring three enigmatic bald and blue characters who take the audience through a multi-sensory experience that combines theatre, percussive music, art, science and vaudeville into a form of entertainment that is like nothing else.



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