Best of Chicago Archives - Chicago Reader

Festivals, fun, Foodball? Bingo!

by Salem Collo-Julin and Kerry Reid September 10, 2021September 10, 2021

Another few days of summer weather for the next week will surely bring Chicagoans out and about! Be safe, have fun, and consider one of these options as you make your plans. Fri 9/10 (open run): Theater Wit had a huge hit in 2015 with Anne Washburn’s apocalyptic black comedy, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, […]

City Life

Leisure options for Labor Day and beyond

by Salem Collo-Julin and Kerry Reid September 3, 2021September 3, 2021

It’s Labor Day Weekend (unless you’re OG and already celebrated workers on May Day—not that you can’t honor working people every day). For the traditional end-of-summer celebration, we’ve got walking tours, markets, music, exhibits, and more.

Public Service Announcement

Festivals, fairies, and free shows in the parks

by Kerry Reid and Salem Collo-Julin August 20, 2021August 21, 2021

Labor Day is coming up, but there’s plenty of summer left to enjoy. Here are a few things to get you out and about (and several of these events are free). Your weekend outdoor festival watch: Ruido Fest happens in Union Park this weekend (Fri 8/20, gates open at 3 PM, Sat 8/21 and Sun […]

Public Service Announcement

August abundance

by Kerry Reid and Salem Collo-Julin August 13, 2021

The torpor-inducing temperatures seem to be cooling down, so it’s a good time to get out and about. Here are some mid-August events worth looking into. Fri-Sun 8/13-8/15 (and through 8/29): High school can be fraught, as so many teen dramedies have taught us. School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, Jocelyn Bioh’s comedy […]

Best of Chicago

This week’s cover

by Brianna Wellen March 19, 2021August 18, 2021

We have a tradition here at the Reader of tasking one of the city’s most talented illustrators, Jason Wyatt Frederick, with creating a Where’s Waldo-esque tableau every year for Pitchfork, filled with a who’s who of Chicago personalities and small visual puzzles spelling out the music fest’s lineup. When it seemed clear that we would […]

Best of Chicago

Losses and gains: Best of Chicago 2020

by Brianna Wellen March 17, 2021August 18, 2021

The positives of the year look different for everyone. The losses and gains have been very personal, so in turn the issue turned out that way too. It reads like group therapy—writers were given space to acknowledge what’s being left behind and then move forward with optimism, maybe even excitement about what the city still has to offer us. Reader poll results were determined by you, the readers!