The Chicago Traveler

• We’re all familiar with the Taste of Chicago, an all-out food fest featuring dozens of Chicago restaurants. Foodies will want to check out the upscale version, Chicago Gourmet. Over two dozen famous Chicago chefs (including Rick Bayless, David Burke, and Art Smith) will be offering some of their signature dishes for the event, along with wine tastings and cooking demonstrations. (Sept 26-28)
• Dia de los Muertos is still over a month away, but you can begin celebrating this weekend at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Dia de los Muertos: La Vida Sin Fin is the nation’s largest Day …read more

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• If fresh-shucked oysters and pints of Guinness sound like a good time to you, check out the Guinness Oyster Festival in Roscoe Village. There are also vendors of other foods, pints of Harp’s and Smithwick’s available, and live music. (Sept 6)
• Chow down on brats, potato salad, sauerkraut, smoked sausages, and beer at the 88th Annual German-American Festival in Lincoln Square. The 43rd Annual Von Steuben Parade (featured in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) starts Saturday at 2 p.m. (Sept 5-7)
• You can sample from more than 300 international vintages and watching cooking demos at the Fourth Annual Windy City …read more

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• RedEye columnist Mark Bazer hosts “The Interview Show” at Hideout, where a variety of guests (including musicians, comedians, authors, and more) share their thoughts. (Every first Friday)
• The indoor-outdoor 23rd annual Irish-American Heritage Festival features live Irish music on five stages, folk dancing, food, arts and crafts vendors, and a raffle for a trip to Ireland. (July 11-13)
• You can browse through wood carvings, paintings, and jewelry from Asia, Africa, and Europe at the Black Thai International Arts and Crafts Fest in the West Loop. (July 9-11, Aug 6-8, Sept 3-5)
• More than 200 painters, sculptors, photographers, street musicians, …read more

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When it comes to sweets, you don’t discriminate. You love them all: cakes, ice cream, candy. You don’t care how a dessert shows up, as long as it shows up. Sweet Tooths, listen here… and welcome to paradise.
Three female pastry chefs, each with their own individual business, brought their shops together under one roof, creating the Sweet Collective. Headed by Cathay Rayhill, The Sugar Syndicate is a boutique bakery that specializes in custom cakes for special occasions. And if your special occasion is called “Monday is over,” you can stop in for small individual treats like petits fours, mini-Danishes, bite-size …read more

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• The annual German festival Mayfest is stuffed with plenty of brats, beer, and bands. The official opening ceremony on Friday features a traditional keg tapping and May Queen crowning. Prost! (May 29-June 1)
• The 24th Annual Chicago Gospel Music Festival is three days of more than 50 performances on three stages in Millennium Park. (May 30-June 1)
• Foodies can sample dishes from more than 50 chefs from local restaurants at the 16th Annual Great Chefs Tasting Party at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, hosted by the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Chicago. Participating restaurants include David Burke’s …read more

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Chicago may be known for its hot dogs, its pizza, and its beef, but other locations offer great items to the national menu also. If you want barbecue you head to Texas, no one can beat New Orleans when it comes to gumbo and jambalaya, and we’re all familiar with the Philly cheesesteak. And when you want great chili, you make your way to Cincinnati. But don’t buy your plane ticket just yet. Now, folks here in Chicago can get a great “five-way” without traveling hundreds of miles. Instead, they can go to a new restaurant in Lincoln Square called …read more

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As you can imagine, there are hundreds of New Year’s Eve events in Chicago, giving you plenty of ways to celebrate the New Year. Here are just a few of the most recommendable:
• Fat Cat: What could be more Chicago than celebrating Capone-style? Get out the flapper dresses and zoot suits for this Roaring ‘20s party, and you may end up winning the costume contest. Even if you don’t, you’ll love the upscale hors d’oeurves and open top-shelf bar. A DJ spins vintage music as well as modern-day hits. (9 p.m. – 1:30 a.m., $75-$100) (map) (link)
• Hyatt Regency O’Hare: …read more

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• Follow a trail of flour, chalk, and toilet paper on the Sixth Annual Great Chicago Anthrax Scare/Santa Hat Run. This four-mile run (for $44) includes a Santa cap, a hazmat suit, and four hours of food and open bar with the Chicago Hash House Harriers afterward. Meet at the Hidden Shamrock by 2 p.m. (Dec 15)
• Aunt Mabel gave you an ugly-as-sin holiday sweater last year. Here’s your opportunity to finally enjoy it. The Second Annual Fugly Sweater Bar Crawl begins at Blarney Stone at 2 p.m. and makes its way through Wrigleyville ‘til 12 midnight. Call for details …read more

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Celebrate the reopening of the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies in its new facility at the Grand Opening Gala Benefit, including cocktails, dinner, and entertainment. (Nov 29)
The annual World of Chocolate benefit for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago is held in commemoration of World AIDS Day. Guests will sample scrumptious chocolate creations from many of Chicago’s finest restaurants, caterers, and chocolatiers. (Nov 29)
Bayside, an alternative rock band from Queens, New York, performs at the House of Blues, while Clay Aiken, the American pop singer of American Idol fame, sings at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan. (Nov 29)
Sample some of the …read more

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A huge 90-foot-tall (27-meter) “tree,” made up of more than 130 individual Balsam Firs, is the centerpiece for the 94th Annual City of Chicago Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. Musical entertainment begins at 4:30 p.m., lighting at 5:00 p.m. (Nov 23)
The Sparrow, an award-winning musical, is back by popular demand at the Apollo Theater for an extended run. The story follows a small-town teenage girl with telekinetic powers. (Nov 14-Dec 31)
Matt Wertz, a singer/songwriter from Nashville, TN, and Dave Barnes, a rock and r&b artist, will be together at the House of Blues. (Nov 23)
The most audience participative improv show in …read more

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