The Chicago Country Music Festival continues its journey north: in 2008 it was held on parkland at Soldier Field, last year it was at Grant Park, and Fri 10/8 and Sat 10/9 it’s in Millennium Park from noon till 9 PM. The final major outdoor festival of the year presented by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, it features three stages of country, honky-tonk, and roots rock, a Kids’ Corral, and more. The headliners at Pritzker Pavilion on Friday are Gretchen Wilson (6 PM) and Clint Black (7:30 PM); on Saturday they’re Love & Theft (4:30 PM), Jake Owen (6 PM), and Jewel (7:30 PM), who put out her first country album in 2008. The lineup in the Americana Tent includes Truth & Salvage Co. and the Henhouse Prowlers on Friday and the Giving Tree Band, Sawbuck, and a songwriters’ showcase with Kix Brooks, Bob DiPiero, David Lee Murphy, and The Band Perry on Saturday. Throughout the festival the Honky-Tonk Tent will host more music—the Country Sky Band, the Slim Pickins Band, Levi Riggs, Northern Comfort—with line-dancing instruction between acts. For more details, call 312-744-3317 or visit chicagocountrymusicfestival.us. 
Chicago Country Music Festival
Now located in Millennium Park, this year’s edition features performances by Jewel, Jake Owen, Love & Theft, Clint Black, Gretchen Wilson, Truth & Salvage Co., the Giving Tree Band, and others.
