The best things to do in Chicago today

For one blissful weekend, Fulton Street transforms into an open-air gallery and music venue. Shop more than four blocks of art available for purchase at this family-friendly festival, where you'll also find two days of live music and no shortage of solid dining options nearby.

Celebrate the glory of the dumpling in its many forms—falafel, empanadas, pierogi and more—at World Dumpling Fest. Plus enjoy cultural dance performances like Filipino tinikling and Puerto Rican bomba. Admission to the event is free, but you'll need to purchase tickets if you want to eat dumplings—$1 per ticket, $18 for 20 tickets or $45 for 50 tickets.

Oktoberfest is coming to the North Side this year thanks to the Chicago Cubs. “Oktoberfest with the Cubs” promises three days' worth of boozy brews, authentic food offerings, carnival attractions (ride tickets required), a stein-holding competition and much more. Pint-sized attendees can enjoy a Kinderfest, complete with kid-friendly crafts, balloon artists and family-friendly competitions.

You probably know young Frenchwoman Amélie’s story from the silver screen, and now you can see it in Chicago’s intimate Chopin Theater. Transport yourself to the streets of Paris with this musical that closely follows the film’s plot—Amélie seeking connection and joy through her wondrous imagination. The musical will unfold throughout the Chopin Downstairs Studio, transforming the lobby, bar, and café into set pieces.

Labubu mania sweeps through Gangnam Market for one wild weekend. Visitors can browse a wide range of Labubus—not to mention clothing and accessories for said Labubus—available for purchase. If you're all stocked up on the plush monsters, swing by for a meet-and-greet with costumed Labubu characters or get your Labubu tattooed by viral L.A. tattoo artist Hunter Choa.

Every two years, Chicago becomes a global hub of architecture and design during the Chicago Architecture Biennial. This edition’s theme is SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, bringing together over 100 projects by architects, artists and designers from 30 countries—each piece engaging with the cultural, social and environmental fluxes transforming our world. Start your Biennial experience at the Chicago Cultural Center, then explore a citywide constellation of exhibitions and public programs hosted by dozens of leading cultural, program, and civic partners throughout Chicago. A full schedule of programming and locations is coming soon. Stay up-to-date by visiting the Chicago Architecture Biennial website.

Displaying a 25-story-tall video installation on the side of THE MART, ART on THE MART is the largest permanent digital art projection in the world, with programming that changes seasonally. ART on THE MART's array of 34 digital projectors show the creations after dusk every evening. Running Thursdays through Saturdays beginning at 7:30pm, it’s best viewed from the section of the Chicago Riverwalk between Wells Street and Franklin Street.

Designed as a choose-your-own-adventure experience, Move at the Shed is your chance to curate your own day of—what else?—movement. You can stretch out with a yoga session, break a sweat at dance cardio or kick back with live music from Jamila Woods. A class pass fetches you access to a whole gamut of activities, like community walks, special lounge areas and photo ops.

You’ve probably seen a Shakespeare play before, but never like this. Five professional actors come together for each performance of Drunk Shakespeare. The twist? One of them has had five shots before the show and is trying to stay on track while the other four actors do their best to hold the performance together.

With its latest exhibition, the Chicago Botanic Garden showcases the patterns and prints that adorn the natural world. Through meticulously planted gardens and nature-inspired art installations, Patterned by Nature highlights the intersection between graphic design and horticulture. Exhibition highlights include colossal embroidered flowers by Raquel Rodrigo, a collection of upcycled fashion sourced from garden materials by Columbia College Chicago’s School of Fashion and a paisley patterned succulent garden. 

Navy Pier’s annual performing arts festival welcomes more than 100 local artists for a weekend of music and performances spread across five stages. Featured acts range from Chicago’s world-class stalwarts, including The Joffrey Ballet, Second City and The Chicago Philharmonic, to pop culture icons like RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Detox and Grammy-nominated jazz outfit Liquid Soul, plus many exciting up-and-comers. This year's event revolves around the world premiere of five commissioned music and dance works.

Returning to a two-acre plot of land just west of Goose Island, Jack's Pumpkin Pop-Up saves you a trip to the suburbs by bringing a huge corn maze, more than 10,000 pumpkins, axe throwing, carnival games, food trucks, twinkling orange light displays and more fall fun to the city. A general admission ticket nets you access to the pop-up, but you can also opt for add-ons that let you take home a pumpkin, grab a drink at one of bars or go axe throwing.  When is Jack's Pumpkin Pop-up? The pop-up opens September 18 and runs through November 2. How do I get tickets to Jack's Pumpkin Pop-up? Timed-entry tickets can be purchased via Jack's website. Prices vary based on time and ticket type.

Marking the shift from summer to fall, the equinox is a time of harvest and community gathering, and Pilsen cocktail bar Hoste is bringing those themes to life. DJs Sandra Treviño, Wadadah II and M-Dok will provide a soundtrack while visitors browse a marketplace featuring Pilsen-based vendors. Food by Herbal Notes, a craft table, farmstand, sound healing and more will round out the event. Last but certainly. not least, South Side gem The Watermelon Man is making a rare appearance north of 83rd St to sling his namesake fruits.

This annual festival assembles luminaries from the fields of politics, journalism and the arts for a multi-week series of programming across the city, with events ranging from lectures and discussions to screenings and musical performances. Not sure which events to hit? Some of this season's biggest speakers include Kate McKinnon, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Nick Offerman. You can see a full schedule of programming on the Chicago Humanities Festival website. 

In this new work debuting during Chicago Architecture Biennial’s Opening Weekend, local Afro-contemporary dance company Red Clay Dance Company offers a creative response to the 2024 exhibition Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar through dance and storytelling, honoring this living altar to missing and murdered Black girls and women. Featuring an award-winning ensemble of dancers and new music by Jamila Woods, this immersive, evening-length choreographic work serves as a sanctuary for the stories of the women and girls featured on the altar—blending dance, song, digital media and built environment to foster a resonant experience. The performance on Sunday, September 21, will be followed by a brief post-show talk.

Just when you thought the state's largest mall couldn't surprise you anymore, Woodfield Mall announces WONDRA, a sprawling new immersive experience. Inside, you’ll wander through enchanted meadows that respond to the sound of your voice, stumble across bioluminescent landscapes and drift into crystal caves and celestial gardens that blur the line between digital spectacle and raw wonder. Every corner is crafted to ignite curiosity and inspire a sense of awe we, whether you’re a kid seeing it all for the first time or an adult who forgot what it feels like to play.

Get ready, punk rockers! Riot Fest is returning to Douglass Park from September 19-21 with a laundry list of rock, punk, metal and emo artists. It's always one of the biggest music fests of the season thanks to a must-see lineup of both legacy acts and emerging newcomers. This year's headliners include Blink-182, Weezer, Jack White and Green Day.

For more than 30 years, the Neo-Futurists have been delighting late-night crowds with performances that pack 30 miniature plays into a 60-minute show. The company's signature show is more unpredictable than ever these days, with a handful of compact new plays premiering every week. Within the span of 10 minutes, you may be treated to a poignant monologue about everyday life or an irreverent diatribe delivered by a pantsless member of the cast—all inspired by the experiences of the performers on stage. Always changing and evolving, it's the rare show that truly offers something different everytime you show up to see it.

Founded in 1981 and organized by Chicago Filmmakers, Reeling is the second-oldest LGBTQ film festival in the U.S., featuring a lineup of features, shorts and documentaries highlighting the diversity of queer stories and filmmakers from around the world. The fest will show dozens of feature and short films this year in a mixture of in-person and virtual screenings. Screenings run from September 19–28 at Landmark Century Centre Cinemas (2828 N. Clark St) and Chicago Filmmakers (1326 W. Hollywood Ave). For a full schedule of films and other events, visit the festival's website.

Check out all sorts of cool trinkets, wares and eats at this indoor market highlighting artisan makers from Chicago’s South Side. Taking place on the second floor of the Promontory, the family-friendly event features new and returning vendors, a cocktail bar, lounge areas and tunes by DJ Sean Alvarez of We Love Soul.

Watch independent and experimental films from local and international filmmakers during this weeklong film fest at Hyde Park's Harper Theater & Gene Siskel Film Center. After the credits roll, join nightly afterparties and live concerts. See the festival's website for a full schedule.

The Joffrey Ballet opens its 70th anniversary season with the U.S. premiere of Carmen—an epic story of love and betrayal set in 1930s Spain—reinterpreted by world-renowned choreographer Liam Scarlett. In this fiery ballet adaptation of arguably the world’s most popular opera, Scarlett brings a modernized intensity to Carmen. Don't wait on tickets—the Joffrey is staging just 10 performances of Carmen over two weekends.