The Chicago Traveler

• The African Festival of the Arts is Chicago’s largest neighborhood festival, featuring three music stages, ethnic cuisine, and more than 300 vendors selling everything from fine art to skin care products. Presentations include book discussions and dance workshops. (Aug 29 – Sept 1)
• The 30th annual Chicago Jazz Festival is the city’s longest-running lakefront music festival and features local, national, and international performers on several stages. (Aug 28-31)
• Get your fill of pierogi, Polish sausage, and sauerkraut at the Taste of Polonia, where you can listen to live bands play everything from rock to polka. (Aug 29 – Sept …read more

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June is Gay Pride Month, and it’s already off to an excellent start. Last night, a brand new documentary premiered on Chicago’s public television station, WTTW. Out & Proud in Chicago draws attention to 150 years of the city’s GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) history. From the Civil War to today, the documentary details how the vast community’s diverse members have come together to create historical and political achievements.
Out & Proud in Chicago profiles the famous and the unsung, those who chose paths of activism and those who chose to live everyday lives with extraordinary dignity. This is the …read more

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• Check out two local designers and their earth-friendly clothing for women at EcoFashion: Beyond the Basics. Sip on pomegranate martinis with organic vodka at Pivot, while seeing how scarves are made with natural pomegranate dye. (Apr 4)
• The 24th Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival features more than 100 short, animated, documentary, and feature films from the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, and Spain. Screenings take place in several venues across the city and explore politics, race, sex, and social issues. (Apr 4-16)
• Doug Benson, as seen on VH1’s Best Week Ever, will be appearing at Lakeshore Theater. (Apr 4-5)
• …read more

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I am, by no means, a morning person. I wake up very grumpy and disoriented, no matter how much sleep I may have had. I probably feel at my best in the afternoon and evening hours, and it’s not uncommon for me to stay up long past midnight. Some might even call me a creature of the night. However, there are folks out there whose fondness for the evening is on a whole different level.
For hundreds of years, vampires have scared the living daylights out of us. However, Martin Riccardo, a Chicago-area vampire folklorist, has found that they are a …read more

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This weekend features Reeling 2007: the 26th Annual Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival. From comedies to documentaries to dramas, the pink carpet is rolling out for 11 days of nearly 70 amazing films from over 28 countries. Reeling is the second-oldest film festival of its kind in the U.S., showcasing the best gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender films every year.
Reeling is committed to celebrating an identity that is often misrepresented or ignored in mainstream film and television. This year’s presentation will include films from Jamie Babbit (But I’m A Cheerleader), Robert Gaston (Open Cam), and Casper Andreas (Slutty …read more

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This weekend marks the 43rd Annual Chicago International Film Festival, featuring screenings of more than 100 feature films, 30 shorts, 10 documentaries, and a handful of anime films from around the world. Founded in 1965, this is North America’s oldest competitive international film festival. This world-renowned annual event discovers and presents new filmmakers to Chicago, acknowledging and awarding them for their craft.
The IFF continues to discover new talent and create opportunities for talented artists. The festival has introduced the world to directors like John Carpenter, Victor Nunez, Martin Scorsese, Susan Seidelman, and Gregory Nava. This year’s recommendations (c/o the Chicago …read more

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