Used to love going to St Al's fest each year. Great to see a traditional German parish continuing…read moreto embrace their roots even as the neighborhood has changed. Unfortunately, each year, it seems to become more of a standard Chicago street festival and less of an Oktoberfest. In 2021, they got rid of the big tent (and it rained, so we could've used it!), and the beer was Sam Adams - no more German beers. The only thing making it an Oktoberfest was the one stand with brats and kraut and the Polkaholics playing up front (which I do love). Looking elsewhere for a better fest this year. Hopefully St Al's will go back to basics soon. I'll be back if they do.

Great festival. It's not a authentic German Oktoberfest, but more of a traditional Chicago Street…read morefestival with a German twist. Mixture of German and American beers combined with partial selection of German and typical street fest fare. So minus points for that, but bonus points in that it is more affordable than the Oktoberfest in Lincoln Square and the bands, vendors, and beer tents have grown and improved in quality each year. It is extremely crowded during peak times (Saturday night), but so is every other popular street festival. Also, it's completely run by church volunteers and the money goes to great causes...so kudos to that. It's very family friendly during the day time...LOTS of babies.

Assuming this is the Wilmette Theater, this is a great local place for movies or concerts. We took…read moremy 16 month old son to see children's musician Joanie Bartels as a part of Kidstock. The people that ran Kidstock and/or work at the Wilmette Theater were very welcoming and helpful. A great local place and nice alternative to multiplexes.

Thank you Wilmette Park District for showing a photo of the historical Wilmette Theater in downtown…read moreWilmette. Live, movies and a nationally known acting school.

You know how the Field Museum has Christmas trees from around the world during the holidays, you…read moresee ornaments from around the world and it stirs some curiosity and passion in you (as a child) to visit and see other countries. In a way, this festival of cultures can create the same type of thoughts for little ones as they visit the booths which represent different cultures and countries. I think that's pretty cool, to walk around and get some fresh air, learn about other people and let that inspire/prepare a kid for a trip abroad. Yes, have them put the iPad down and get out here and interact with someone outside of their bubble. There are some live performances/dancing on stage and good food like funnel cake and cheese fries in a bucket to feed your family members too. The parking lot was full when I came by but you can easily park in the neighborhood and walk in.

This is a truly great event, held over two days every year in May at Oakton Park, celebrating the…read morevast cultural diversity of Skokie. For the last several years my daughter's dance troupe has performed here. There's a variety of enjoyable entertainment, a good selection of food vendors, and some really nice tents manned by representatives of the many ethnic communities within the Village. We have practically everything; Slavic, German, Filipino, Jamaican, Bulgarian, Polish, Belizean, Pakistani, you name it!! (Our new slogan isn't "Skokie Welcomes Everyone" for no reason!) Some are providing information about their cultures while others have items for sale, in addition to a retail booth for various goods for sale. Village offices have booths providing useful information and resources to residents, and they also have a train ride and a variety of games and activities for children. Plus it's right beside the playground. General admission is free and weather permitting, it's really a fun day for the entire family -- worth a visit, whether or not you're from Skokie.

The Music Box is the place that my husband and I go for "date nights" more than any other place in…read morethe area, even though we don't live in the city. And they have just expanded the historic building to include a third theater, not to mention the garden behind the Lounge where we have seen a couple of films. It's always a treat when a show in Theater 1is preceded by organ music by Dennis Scott; he generally themes the music to the movie (ex: when we saw "Contempt" this weekend he said all the songs he played were from the year the film came out). They show everything: action, romance, foreign films, cult classics like "Rocky Horror," thrillers and suspense, indie films, documentaries, animation. Every Valentine's Day they show "The Princess Bride," and they do series like "Metal Movie Night," "Cat Video Fest," and "Sapphopalooza." The building itself is reason to go, particularly since it has been restored and new chairs were put into Theater 1 a couple of years ago. We have been in both Theaters 2&3 now since that more recent renovation and they also look beautiful and are very comfortable. Check out a movie and a piece of Chicago history at the same time!

Thank goodness Music Box Thester is alive & ever thriving! Fabulous array of old to new films of…read moreevery genre to appease the varied tastes of dedicated movie lovers. For example the screening of the classic "The Magnificent Ambersons" attracted a near full house. LOVE the brand new expanded bathrooms! Always friendly accommodating staff ensures a great experience.

This festival has grown immensely! Every year it just seems to be more organized…read more The parking situation has always been . This year, however, (2024) it was really organized. Food was great! However, if you come Saturday night- forget about eating- The lines are long. ( that's because the food is on amazing). My suggestion is to come mid afternoon 3-5pm either Saturday or Sunday and your wait won't be long- heck, there might not be a line at all. Roasted lamb and pig were AMAZING. Fresh and right off the spit. That was my meal on Saturday afternoon. Their sausages, chevaps, are also great. The Serbian hamburger is OUT OF THIS WORLD AND AMAZING. This was my Sunday lunch and dinner. Saturday night has an assortment of music genres folk music, rock music, they had a string/banjo band and I saw a number of kids listening to a young dj outside on my way out. Every music group had their own room. They also have folk dancers that were great! The costumes were beautiful. This is truly a family festival. They also had a small children's section. They should consider expanding that. Prices were similar to other festival prices. They asked for a donation of $5 when we walked into the festival. Overall a 5 star rating They still need to implement a better system for the LONG food lines during prime time. My family and I will be there next year!

Unfortunately, Serb Fest is not what it was 5 years ago. It's bigger, but it's not better…read more Lamb has increased to $16 for a pound, should you be able to get any. We arrived around 7:30pm and got our tickets and stood in line. 8pm. 8:30pm. Around 9pm we make it to the front of the line and it stops completely. They announce that they may be able to give everyone currently in line 1 portion of Lamb or Pig, but it's going to take another 30 minutes or so to cook. People are getting drunk and impatient and it's becoming unpleasant. At 9:05pm we give up, take our tickets, and buy $20 worth of $5 Lav beers that don't even fill the plastic cups. I'm not sure what happened and how they ran out of one of the main attractions of the festival with 3 more hours to go. It was disappointing and, in my opinion, a waste of our time. Someone toward the entrance was discussing this situation with another man and it sounded like there was an ordering error that hadn't been fixed in time. I dunno. Your best bet might be to come during the day, closer to 2-4pm or so, before it gets crowded and well before they might be running out of roasted goodness.

Awh mannn, I had been looking forward to the Korean Fest. In short, it was very mediocre…read more Entertainment: The highlight of the festival and included a karaoke competition, rap group (Elephant Rebellion), raffle ($5/ticket), and some games. Food: They had pork bulgogi, spicy rice cake, fish cake, buns. Almost everything else was fried: fried squid, veggies, dumplings ... oh, aaaaand Mexican food! (Whaa? Hah.) Many selections were $8-10! One of the cheaper things were the veggie dumplings (3 for $5, 7 for $10). Those were very doughy, not many vegs (mostly onion and cabbage). Drink: $1 canned pop, non-alcoholic piña colada pineapples, beer, soju. Alcohol runs $6-7. Overall: This fest has SO MUCH POTENTIAL, especially in terms of food. There are so many authentic fresh dishes that could be offered! It just falls SO short of what it could be. Sad face. :(

This year marks the 14th annual event. Luckily it seems to be getting bigger and finally the…read moreChicago Korean American chamber of commerce has taken to doing more advertising on-line and on social networking websites. Still, there is a lack of sufficient advertising in the neighborhood, so marketing opportunities and money potential is lost. Back to the festival; this year they have far more tents with greatly more tables and free seats for public use. Many more garbage cans to keep garbage under control, although I wish there were recycling bins, another missed opportunity. Two stages on opposite sides of the festival with an array of exciting shows. Saturday night on one stage was some kind of modeling show and the opposite hosted a karaoke contest of popular Korean and American songs. Later this night they had a comedy show mainly in Korean but with English thrown in and a rock band with a Korean lead singer. Food was just... OK. People at the festival seemed to really love it. I'm a bit more critical of the Korean food I devour. At the festival there are probably about four to five food vendors offering mostly Korean and some random Asian food. Restaurants on Bryn Mawr open their bay windows and sell food right on the sidewalk. Korean BBQ aka Kalbi ranges from $7-$10 dollars. Most of what I saw on plates, mostly just a sampling approx 3 pieces for that $7-$10 cost. Which means 2 mostly bones and 1 of ample meat. It's a festival right? they want you to visit their restaurant instead of eating it at a fest. Couple beer tents offering Amber Boch and Bud light products served in Hite cups (?) Why not serve Hite(Korean beer) right? That's what I thought also. Beer runs about $3-$5, other beverages $1-$2. This year they have a Pina Colada stand (no alc seen) and the drink is served out of a cored pineapple. Another wow of the festival is the large sand pit found in the middle of the fest around Spaulding and Bryn Mawr. Here is where two men will duke it out, sumo style under the baking sun as crowds cheer on. Afterwards find kids playing in the sand. Good times, another opportunity to be eating and drinking in Chicago without the use of a brown bag. Parking isn't hard to find just look along the outskirts, major streets like Kimball, Kedzie, Bryn Mawr. If parking within the neighborhood read the signs, most may warn about possible towing if without numbered stickers, but they allow weekend parking. The festival does not use tickets ! Yay! Cash is accepted and restaurants take anything.

My favorite theater and I'm not switching anytime soon!…read more Movies are always available, and the seats are spacious and consistently clean. It is incredibly easy to buy and secure your seats online prior to arrival, and then you just flash the QR code at the entrance for seamless entry. Parking is a breeze to - they validate it once you scan the barcode of your ticket on the validation machine inside the theater. They also have the best popcorn in the city, fluffy and never burnt, with no leftover kernels. Just be careful not to over-butter it like I sadly tend to do sometimes! I absolutely love a late Saturday night movie after dinner. I just saw the 10:15 PM showing of Practical Magic 2 last night after dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. When the movie let out at 12:05 AM, we took a nice walk across the way and could even hear music drifting over from Fat Rosie's. It was beautiful weather and a fun-filled atmosphere--just the perfect experience. I also really enjoy catching an early Sunday morning show here to cap off the weekend. Highly recommend!

I like the theatre itself. It feels grand; I'll bet once upon a time it was especially cool. I'm…read moreglad that they haven't genericized the outside and made it look like any other nondescript building around. But it's just insane how expensive it is. Tickets are like $12+ now (the tickets we bought were discounted because of the early showing, and I paid $11.99 for an adult ticket). And most egregious is that it costs $20 to park. I hope that the villagers of Rosemont get a ton of resident perks, because the village sucks money out of people left and right. This theatre has a Dolby theatre. This is a dine-in theatre as well, so you can order at the counter or on the app and they'll deliver to your seat. You can also order ahead and pick a time for them to deliver to you, which is a kinda cool option. I don't know if they actually have a functioning box office any longer. They have ticket kiosks from which you can purchase, and you can purchase tickets on the app. I think there was a sign about getting tickets at guest relations, so perhaps that is an in-person option. This was once a theatre called Muvico before it was acquired by AMC. I never visited when it was still that brand. But I'm curious about the history of the theatre. It has one room that is called the Charlie Chaplin room, and I'm curious why they have individual rooms that aren't theaters. But having said all that, with the obnoxious, ridiculously high parking fee that can't be discounted at all (at least if you visit the theatre), it's unlikely I'll visit again to dig into that.

Thirsty Ears Festival held by ACM is Chicago's only classical music street festival. For two days,…read moretwo blocks of Wilson Street between Hermitage and Ravenswood were closed to traffic, with the main stage featuring stellar ensembles and soloists performing classical music. This year's festival took place on Saturday, August 22, from 2:00-11:00 pm, and Sunday, August 23, from 1:00-9:00 pm, with a different ensemble or soloist featured each hour. This was our first time visiting the street fair, and we were fortunate to have gorgeous weather for an outdoor event. It was perhaps a little too sunny for me -- even with my bucket hat and sunglasses, the sun was still a little too strong on my back when I sat in the front row for half an hour. I joined my husband and daughter after an open studio at Lillstreet Art Center. From there, it was only a six-minute walk to the festival. When I arrived around 4:30 pm, they had already been comfortably sipping beer and enjoying classical music for hours. From 4:00 to 5:00 pm, Lakeshore Rush was performing, and they played beautifully. I especially enjoyed the last few pieces, which were upbeat and lively. The festival offered much more than beer and wine. There were numerous vendor booths, kid-friendly activities, and food trucks on both days. It was wonderful to see people of all ages having a good time while enjoying live classical music in such a relaxed outdoor setting. The suggested $10 entry donation felt very reasonable, especially since the festival was supporting a good cause. We had a lovely time, and I'm glad we finally discovered this unique Chicago event. I would definitely consider coming back next year.

Thirsty Ears Festival has been on my list to visit for a while because it's just a few blocks away…read more This year I finally made it, toddler in tow. A friend and her kiddo came along too. The festival is the brain child of Access Contemporary Music (ACM), the music school on the block, and it's the only classical music party in the city. It's a very small festival, spanning just the block on Wilson between Ravenswood and Hermitage. There's a packed schedule for the two days of the festival, with various musical ensembles and composers performing throughout the day. Of course the music was the main attraction, but there were a couple booths selling some food as well. Alcoholic beverages were available and pizza, and I think possibly another snack but I can't recall. Of course there's also a couple restaurants nearby as well, and the two that are right on this block have a bit of outdoor seating. Most of the booths were local artists selling their work; I saw a booth that made crochet wall hangings, a pottery booth, a local author selling his novels, and more. I was really glad that we happened to be here there when a small choral ensemble was performing. The other musician we hard was a pianist performing when we arrived. The main stage was on the eastern edge of the festival along the Hermitage end, and there were folding chairs set up for people to enjoy the concert. A kid's area and stage was on the Ravenswood end. They had some kids activities like face painting and balloon animals in addition to the musician playing children's music. It was great that they had a children's space since otherwise they might get bored quickly. On the weekend, the parking along Ravenswood is super easy. There's also the Metra, of course, with the Ravenswood stop a block away.