If it's May in Chicago, then you know it's time for the mama and the papa of eco living events: Green Festival Chicago.
For one weekend only at Navy Pier, this Saturday and Sunday, the Green Festival will host DIY workshops, discussions and speakers, a Green Marketplace with the latest sustainable businesses and vendors, an Organic Beer and Wine pavillion, test drives of electric and hybrid vehicles, vegetarian and vegan food, and a Green Kids Zone with free activities for all ages of kids.
Definitely bring the kids and teens to Green Festival because 18 and under are free.
I'm very excited to check out the Green Festival this year, as I learn something new each year as I get discover all the great new local eco offerings around the Midwest and the country.
I'm also thrilled to tell you that Green Parent Chicago readers can get a special FREE weekend pass to the Green Festival. Just visit the festival website here and enter GREENPARENTCHICAGO for a free weekend pass good for both days. (A $20 value!) But, don't wait, it's a limited offer.
Organizers for the new Bellwether cultural fest just announced the performer line-up and schedule for the June date of the 2-weekend fest, and dropped a few hints about which vendors, workshops, and demos to expect.
Workshops and demos will include terrarium-making classes from Logan Square's Fleur, a make-your-own sculpture table workshop by Rebuilding Exchange, and
yarn-spinning classes hosted by Michigan based Videnovich Farms.
On Saturday,
in The Hideout’s back room, film footage from the
Chicago Film Archives will be screened, as well as "rarely-seen amateur sound shorts" from the
vault. Saturday night's after-hours programming from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. includes
sketch comedy show "NED Talks" and a special unannounced film screening. Sunday features the kid-friendly "Adventure Sandwich" and the adult-friendly
"Drunken Spelling Bee."
Sunday morning, Bellwether will host an additional beer
and brunch feast at Ada St. Restaurant with Revolution Brewery
pairings. A limited number of feast tickets will go on sale May 21.
ADMISSION: For day
hours June 8 and 9: suggested is donation $10, kids under 12 are free. For June
8 after-hours: $10 suggested donation.
Sunday feast: limited number of
$50 tickets for sale online on May 21.
LOCATION: Outside The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, along Wabansia (Elston to Throop) and N. Ada St.
WHEN: June 8 from noon to dark with after hours 8 to 10 p.m., and June 9 noon to dark.
Combine food, farm, vintage, collectors, crafters, and artists and what do you get: Bellwether, a new cultural fest and the brainchild of the folks behind local indie favorites The Vintage Bazaar and The Renegade Craft Fair.
Organizers of the fest, to be held on 2 separate weekends at 2 locations describe Bellwether as "a roving Market + Happening + Feast all in one that brings together the finest purveyors, pickers, makers, and doers, as well as curated films, live performances, killer DJs, and food gatherings."
Date, locations and hours for the all-day event are:
The Hideout June 8 and 9 noon to dark after hours: 8-10 p.m.
Garfield Park Conservatory September 21 and 22 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. after hours: Saturday 6 to 9 p.m.
Never a fan of huge, crowded events or places, I knew that going to Lollapalooza in a Chicago August would be feat of patience, tolerance...a good sense of humor, and lots of hydration.
So this year, now that my kids are 12 and 7, they're way more adaptable. My youngest is less apt to take to "r-u-n-n-o-f-t", and my eldest is, like most 12-year-olds, really getting into popular music. He requested we check out French boy wonder of EDM, Madeon, on Friday night and Avicii Saturday.
My husband and I had a few requests too, that didn't pan out, but next year, we decided we'll probably reserve one day for adults only.
Illness struck and we never did make it to see Avicii Saturday night. We also didn't get stuck in the big storm evacuation either. Which friends of ours smartly waited out at the nearby movie theatre, watching "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" until the show was back on. What a great idea!
Sunday we stopped by to check out Kidzapalooza, the fest within a fest, which was perfect for my youngest and really the 8 and under crowd in general. All kids 10 and under are free at Lolla with a ticketed adult. Set amidst cool shady trees, it was the perfect spot on a beautiful Sunday after the humidity broke. There were plenty of tots and kids and picnic blankets bathed in rock music. Little tents offered free tattoos, rock star hairdos, instrument petting zoos, and more.
So relaxed was the vibe, we spotted plenty of child-free couples there too.
My oldest suggested we check out the Playstation tent. We followed that with a short walk through Green Street: a nice gesture toward sustainability, but somewhat less effective than the hordes of volunteers picking up recyclables and junk continuously throughout the park.
For an introvert like me, Lolla is a well organized and reasonable event, seriously. If you can get past being surrounded by packs of scantily clad young folks smoking, cigarettes et cetera and acting goofy (Kidzapalooza is smoke-free), there's always some spot on the periphery to chill out and no shortage of good music, both well known and newer artists.
Remember it's Grant Park, so it's enormous. Bring water (you can refill at several stations throughout the fest with free, filtered water), sunblock, something to sit on for the kids, and your most comfortable sandals for plenty of walking.
The Actors Gymnasium's hit show "Lost & Found" is back for a limited time and playing now until March 11 at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston. This family friendly show is a high flying mix of astounding aerial skill, upbeat live and recorded music, slapstick comedy and thrilling circus acts performed by kids, teens and adults.
"Lost & Found" is a collaborative original work by Co-Artistic Directors of the Actors Gymnasium School for Circus and Performing Arts Larry DiStasi and Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi along with a talented team of designers and performers. The creators describe the show as an exploration of "the world of second-hand treasure. Cast-off junk and cast-off characters are saved in this show and given thrilling, new life." Costumes and elements of the set are recycled from previous performances.
My 7-year-old daughter and I had the pleasure of catching the show on its opening night and were thrilled by the performances of the cast. The show features a tender and sweet storyline throughout with many moments of hilarity and humor. Lots of ideas are at work here, from an innovative reference to our tech-obsessed culture to an old fashioned boy gets girl tale.
While some of the humor may be best understood by the 8 and up crowd, this show is suitable for ages 5 and up and filled with plenty of laughs and thrills for all ages.
A day long learning festival with free workshops for adults and families will be held Saturday, June 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A limited number of workshops will also be held Sunday in various locations around the city, times to be announced .
The second annual Learnapalooza is sponsored in part by The Wicker Park Art Center and WPB, the Special Service Area for the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. The event will include 100 free workshops across Wicker Park, led by neighbors, business owners, and community residents. A list of workshop topics being offered this year are:
ballet, stomp, hip hop, improv, international folk dance, digital photography, knitting, jump rope, knitting, public speaking, belly dance, traveling lightly, green for less green, Office 2011 tips and tricks, effective communication, client management for dummies, how to be an artist, inspiration and creativity, guitar maintenance, still life drawing, comic drawing, earring making, self publishing, beer tasting, how to make gnocchi, sausage or sandwiches, economics and land tax, comics making, fair trade, sustainable transportation, neighborhood architecture tour, Bollywood dancing, martial arts, how to get into business school, how to be a lawyer in 45 minutes, bee keeping, social media, community organizing, salsa dancing, music theory, color theory, worm composting, car maintenance, and backgammon. Learnapalooza is a volunteer-organized event run in partnership withCommuniTeach, a website that makes it easy to learn from your neighbors for free throughout the year. Visitwww.learnapaloozachi.com for updated event information, to see the current list of classes and venues or to sign up to teach a workshop.
Swap-O-Rama-Rama, the clothing swap and simultaneous series of do-it-yourself workshops, returns to its former location at The Chicago Waldorf School today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for one day only.
According to event organizer Katie Hawkey Swindler, a volunteer staff consisting of "renegade" crafters of all ages "from hipsters to grandmas" will be be on hand to teach kids and adults to be creators not consumers.
Some of the creative skills attendees can try their hand at include:
sewing
silk screening
dyeing
jewelry making
up-cycling old clothing
In addition to DIY workshops, the event will also feature live music, DJ's, and fashion shows throughout the day hosted by Chicago based Size Eight Sketch Comedy.
"It's truly an all ages event," said Hawkey. "I had a mom show up with a couple of kids last year, she asked if she could skip the admissions donation because she was "just bringing the kids." After she had been in SORR for about 10 minutes, she comes out with a huge smile on her face and asks to pay for herself so that she could get in on all the cool projects and free clothes"
Admission is $20 (or what you can afford) + a bag of clothes ($10 for students/seniors). With admission, participants get unlimited access to all workshops and supplies and may leave with as many clothes as they can carry.
I'll admit, when I first read the title "Here Comes Science" in the press release for the new They Might Be Giants CD/DVD set, I was skeptical of its value.
Too often science related kids albums and "making science fun" toys I've come into contact with while raising my two children have been a little disappointing.
Some are too simplistic, don't inspire kids to use their own powers of discovery or are made from inferior materials that deteriorate long before a child's interest does.
"Here Comes Science" (September 2009) is available now on iTunes and as a full scale release on September 22. Both include the accompanying DVD of music videos for each song on the album. The album, with songs like Photosynthesis, Electric Car, The Elements, Computer Assisted Design and Velocity covers biology, physics, astronomy, botany, and several other science and technology ideas and facts.
With the help of a talented team of digital artists, the accompanying music videos are creative, cute and offer a more concrete view of the topics being sung about.
Though targeted toward older kids, younger siblings will definitely enjoy the album, too. It may even inspire younger kids, themselves naturally curious about how the world works, to become more interested in making discoveries.
The music is diverse, inventive and fun. John Flansburgh's and John Linnell's (along with guest artists) melodies and harmonies are truly pleasant to listen to. The lyrics present a comprehensive amount of information enjoyably and most importantly for a kids album: without the usual cheesiness.
Especially appreciated is the underlying support for science as credible information, something too often missing in today's atmosphere of climate change denial and similar movements against environmentalism.
Songs like "My Brother The Ape" present the theory of evolution to kids in a way that's matter of fact and lyrics such as "Science is Real...the facts are with science" lend support to logical methods of worldly discovery.
In short, "Here Comes Science" is a great addition to your family music collection for both younger and older kids.
Pairing rock with recycling, the first ever Green Music Fest will take place this weekend at Eckhart Park in Chicago's burgeoning West Town neighborhood.
West Town Chamber of Commerce organizers say the new and innovative green technology-themed event, running noon to 10 p.m. August 15 and 16 "aims to reflect our eco-friendly city by fusing environmentally-conscious bands with all green vendors, services and activities".
Vendors in the Eco-Friendly Vendor Village will be exclusively green and eco-friendly, featuring everything from crafts made from recycled materials to solar-powered techie devices.
The Green Family Fun Fest, held each day from noon to 5 p.m., will provide children's entertainment and green activities, with all donations directly funding improvements to the Eckhart Park playground.
The City of Chicago’s Center for Green Technology is a major partner and sponsor of the event, as well as the Active Transportation Alliance. Over 60 green vendors and sponsors will participate in this inaugural event. Chicago-based Green Planet Bottling will be the festival’s official bottled water vendor, using bottles made from 100% renewable resources.
The fest is being produced in the most eco-friendly way possible, with bio-diesel fueled generators, biodegradable cups and plates, numerous recycling and composting options and free bike valet parking. Verizon is also hosting a program on-site to collect old cell phones.
Advance tickets for the Green Music Fest are available through Ticket Web for each day for $11.50 or $20 for a 2-day pass. At the door, tickets are $15 or $25 for a 2-day pass. Kids 12 and under are free with adult admission. There is a $5 suggested donation for the Green Family Fun Fest, accompanying adults are free.
Taste of Chicago, the city's most popular food and entertainment festival begins today for its 29th year and will run until Sunday July 5 in Grant Park.
Though some Chicagoans may skip the lines, the crowds (an estimated 6 million annually) and the higher prices of restaurant offerings at the Taste, there is still plenty of free entertainment for kids and families once again. This year many of the activities have an outdoor or green theme.
A few of the fun green things to see and do at the Taste's Family Village include:
A full schedule of activities for each day can be found on the Family Village page of the event's website. The Family Village is located at the southwest corner of Columbus and Jackson. All entertainment and kids activities are free.
Information on street closures, how to pre-purchase food and beverage tickets before you get to the fest, food and beverage ticket prices and a list of prohibited items can be found on the event's FAQ page.
