Every Fall Festival in Chicago, in One Calendar
Just because summer is wrapped up doesn’t mean you can’t still drink beer in the street (aka the itinerary for every Chicago festival). So prep for fall by acting like it’s still summer with our comprehensive guide to EVERY fall festival in Chicago.
Berghoff Oktoberfest
Chicago’s longest-running Oktoberfest celebrates its 30th year with a traditional outdoor toast followed by three days of live music, ‘80s trivia, and prizes.
Festiv-Ale: A Celebration of Beer
This beer fest features high-end brews and your chance to win a 30-case “Tower of Beer” in the raffle. Talk about classy.
Farm Aid 30
Farm Aid returns to Chicago with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Imagine Dragons, and more, plus farm-identified local and organic food. You can also meet and hang out with farmers, if that’s how you rage.
HOPS! Oktoberfest Party
Join the Chicago Homebrewers Pride of the South Side at a VFW hall beer garden for a pig roast, German food, and all manner of crazy homebrews.
Independence Park Beer Fest
Craft beers, food trucks, live music, you know the drill... it’s a beer fest. This one goes down in Irving Park’s Independence Park for its second straight year.
Chicago Internet Cat Video Festival
Yes, it’s a film festival for cat videos. No, we’re not kidding.
Ravenswood ArtWalk
Experience a weekend of art, music, food, and community while getting a peek inside the spaces that have helped define Ravenswood.
Lakeview Taco Fest
Tacos take center stage with inventive offerings plus Mexican wrestlers, beer and taco parings, and a best taco contest.
Renegade Craft Fair
Indie arts and crafts, indie bands, and food/drink from local vendors.
Vintage Garage Chicago: Retro Chicago
Scour for vintage goods in Chicago’s only all-vintage market venue.
Chicago Gourmet
The ultimate in fancy-pants dining with 150+ top chefs and restos, plus wineries, spirit makers, and breweries.
Oktoberfest Chicago
Beer, brats, Bavarian pretzels, beer, lederhosen, live pop/German music on two stages, and also beer.
American Craft Expo (ACE)
Replace that lava lamp with something a bit more grown-up at one of the country’s finest fine craft shows.
Chicago Magazine Culture Festival
Architecture talks + theater performances + literature readings + live comedy + music = culture, now in festival form.
Mad Decent Block Party
Diplo’s uber-cool dance music label sets up shop at Hawthorne Race Course for you to get freaky with Major Lazer, Klingande, Martin Solveig, and more.
Fiesta Familiar
The largest Hispanic family event of its kind in the Midwest features live bands, dance, and “activity stations” dedicated to art, science, music, and more.
Edgewater Fall Art Fair
120+ Chicago artists are paired with live music, a beer garden, and a talent show.
Grand Art & Design Fest
This Chicago street festival celebrates design with hay rides, live music, and a silent auction.
Hyde Park Jazz Festival
See live jazz on 14 stages across Hyde Park in a variety of settings with 18 hours of free, nonstop live performances.
West Town Art Walk
West Town turns into a pop-up art gallery within shops along Chicago Ave in various media including visual, music, and culinary.
Ravinia District Fall Fest
This new fest offers live music, vendors, a petting zoo, and drum circles as well as artisanal beer and wine flights plus BBQ tastings.
Foodie 5K
Food trucks like The Fat Shallot, Babycakes, The Slide Ride, and Yum Dum make this a 5K you might actually consider doing.
Fall Family Fun Fest
Games, chalk art, a fishing pond, duct-tape crafts, and a fire station open house highlight this walk through the Eisenhower Public Library District.
Bacon & Beer Classic
Enjoy bacon bites (David Burke Primehouse, Haute Sausage, Public House, Dinky Donuts, etc.) and beer (Flossmoor Station, Abita, Motor Row, Lake Effect, etc.) in two sessions (brunch and evening) without the Cutler frustration.
Chicago Ideas Week
Get the answers to life’s big questions at this weeklong fest for the brain, with 100+talks and labs including a conversation between Rahm Emanuel and Hillary Clinton.
Pittypalooza
Pit bulls and other “bully” dogs are the beneficiaries of this charity event featuring five hours of live music, drinks, dinner, and a raffle.
RUN 10 FEED 10
Fight local hunger with this 10K featuring a post-race party with live DJ, afterparty yoga session, and beauty consultations.
Vintage Garage Chicago: Record Ramp
Scour for vintage records at the season finale of Chicago’s only all-vintage market venue.
Freaky Deaky
Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, 2 Chainz, and more (not to mention carnival rides, games, and haunted houses) invade Toyota Park as this local Halloween dance festival takes to the large-scale outdoor stage for the first time.
SOFA Chicago
Sort of like the Art Basel of Chicago, SOFA is the premier gallery-presented art fair dedicated to three-dimensional art and design. In other words, not the place to buy a new La-Z-Boy.
ChillFest 2015
See live acoustic acts in all sorts of weird Wicker Park/Bucktown locations including dog-grooming salons, jewelry stores, and sex shops.
Magnificent Mile Lights Festival
Get ready to elbow tourists for Beanie Babies with a tree-lighting ceremony, live music, a parade, and fireworks to kick off the holiday shopping season.
McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade
The old faithful of fall festivals. Bonus points for heckling Ronald McDonald.
Santa Hustle 5K
It wouldn’t be December without some ridiculous excuse to wear a Santa suit. This one involves running (and Christmas music along the course).
CCPA JazzFest
The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University welcomes some of the finest young jazz talent at Chicago’s leading jazz venue.
Beer Fest Beat Down
Lucha libre wrestling, a beer replica of Buckingham Fountain, food trucks, and 100+ craft beers = the only acceptable reason to visit Hoffman Estates.
Twelve Bars of Xmas Pub Crawl
Some call it a festival, some call it a bar crawl, some call it the culmination of everything that is wrong with today’s youth. Either way, it’s TBOX. And you’re drinking early. Real early.