19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
What to do in Chicago this weekend: Chicago Pride Fest, Juneteenth Festival and Summer Smash
Our picks for events in and around Chicago this weekend.
Get your rainbow on at the 24th annual Chicago Pride Fest. Jesse McCartney, Confidence Man, Deborah Cox, Aluna and The Aces headline the two-day celebration in Northalsted. Beyond the three stages — which also will feature drag performance and the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus — watch for the Proud Pet Parade at noon June 22 and check out spaces dedicated to teens and Chicago LGBTQ-owned businesses offer rainbow cakes, colorful coffees and a 'third space' for allSoak up summer at Meltin' Margs, as this genre-defying festival brings together house and country music. Dance and sway all weekend long as a dozen acts perform, including Ship Wrek, Wuki and the Eli Young in 2020, Black boating enthusiasts have gathered on Lake Michigan for a 'floating festival of culture.' The event spills onto land with a lineup jam-packed with concerts and parties. Bring your own boat or join a Facebook group to network your way onto someone else's Toliver and Yeat, Future, Young Thug and Chance the Rapper top the bill at this three-day hip hop festival. Want to plan your Summer Smash weekend? Check out Britt Julious's full guide on what not to Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Diana Krall offers a fantastic excuse to board the train to Ravinia. Perfect summer night. Ravinia's Reach Teach Play Jazz Mentors & Scholars will also many times have you walked past the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum on your way to the Lincoln Park Zoo, but never ventured inside? Your visit is overdue, and now you have a great reason to go. On June 20, the museum will stay open late for a special evening featuring live animals, drop-by scientist tables, nature play, music, face painters, nature walks and more. While you're there, check out the rest of the museum and its new, interactive exhibit, 'By a Thread: Nature's Resilience.'More than 30 years since its founding in Australia, this beloved children's band continues to delight. The Wiggles' Bouncing Balls Tour rolls into the Rosemont Theatre — a fun, air-conditioned way to burn off preschooler the Juneteenth celebration going this weekend at a festival in West Pullman featuring live music and dance, family fun and food from Black-owned restaurants. Hosted by the Far South Community Development Corp., the event also offers small business and housing in Chicago: Ric Wilson, line dancing and AshantiJumpstart your exercise routine with something a little more scenic. Stretch on Millennium Park's Great Lawn with Raven Harris' pilates class or Paula Bui's yoga. Try cardio kickboxing with Jake Garcia or Zumba with Xavier Euzarraga. Mecca Perry programs the music for the first two you summit Soldier Field's 1,600 stairs — roughly the equivalent of an 80-story building? Take on the challenge to support the American Lung Association.
