Chicago Festival and Event Guide: 2026 Music Festivals, Street Fairs, Food Fests, and More

About the 2026 Chicago festival and event guide

Every season is festival season in Chicago. Choose Chicago’s official 2026 guide covers a year-round line-up of music festivals, neighborhood street fairs, artisan markets, food fests, cultural heritage events, holiday celebrations, and film festivals — many of them free.

Headline annual happenings include Lollapalooza in Grant Park (July 30–August 2, 2026), the Chicago Blues Festival (June 4–7, 2026), Taste of Chicago (July 8–12, 2026), and the free Labor Day weekend Chicago Jazz Festival in Millennium Park (September 3–6, 2026). Festival dates are subject to change; check individual event sites for the latest details.

Winter and early spring (January–March 2026)

• Chicago Restaurant Week — January 23–February 8, 2026, the city’s largest culinary event with special dining deals at hundreds of restaurants.
• Chicago Theatre Week — February 5–15, 2026, discounted tickets to premieres and Broadway in Chicago productions.
• Chicago Auto Show — February 7–16, 2026, America’s largest and longest-running auto exhibition.
• Chicago Lunar New Year — February 15–March 1, 2026, with parades, lion dances, film, shopping, and food across the city; Chinatown Chinese New Year Parade on March 1.
• St. Patrick’s Day — March 14, 2026 downtown parade and Chicago River dyeing; South Side Irish Parade March 15.
• C2E2 — March 27–29, 2026, the Midwest’s largest comic and entertainment convention.

Holiday carryovers into early January include Lightscape at Chicago Botanic Garden, ZooLights at Lincoln Park Zoo (through January 4, 2026), and Illumination at The Morton Arboretum (through January 3, 2026).

Spring and early summer (April–June 2026)

• EXPO Chicago — April 9–12, 2026 at Navy Pier (EXPO Art Week April 7–12).
• Chicago Latino Film Festival — April 16–27, 2026.
• Chicago Humanities Festival — April 18–May 17, 2026.
• Sueños Music Festival — May 23–24, 2026 in Grant Park.
• Navy Pier summer fireworks — May 23–September 5, 2026.
• Chicago Blues Festival — June 4–7, 2026.
• Chicago Pride Fest — June 20–21, 2026; Chicago Pride Parade — June 28, 2026 through Northalsted.
• Grant Park Music Festival — June 10–August 15, 2026 in Millennium Park.

High summer and fall (July–October 2026)

• Taste of Chicago and Windy City Smokeout — July 8–12, 2026.
• Lollapalooza — July 30–August 2, 2026 in Grant Park.
• Chicago Air and Water Show — August 15–16, 2026 on the lakefront.
• Chicago House Music Festival and Conference — August 27–30, 2026.
• Chicago Jazz Festival — September 3–6, 2026.
• Chicago Gourmet — September 24–27, 2026.
• Chicago International Film Festival — October 14–25, 2026.
• Chicago Marathon — October 11, 2026.
• Open House Chicago — October 17–18, 2026.

Holiday season (November–December 2026)

• Magnificent Mile Lights Festival — November 21, 2026.
• Chicago Thanksgiving Parade — November 26, 2026 on State Street.
• Christkindlmarket Chicago — November 20–December 24, 2026.
• ZooLights — November 20, 2026–January 3, 2027 at Lincoln Park Zoo.
• New Year’s Eve Fireworks at Navy Pier — December 31, 2026.

This listing is a citywide calendar compiled by Choose Chicago (main office: 301 E. Cermak Rd., Chicago, IL 60616), not a single-venue trade show.