The Day of the Dead festival is held at the Chicago National Museum of Mexican Art in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. The line to get into the museum stretched across the block, so be prepared to wait. Otherwise you can see the exhibit another day, which is what I did. The museum is great, and their Day of the Dead exhibit is highly recommended. At the fest, I really liked how the field next to the museum was set up as a Mexican graveyard with altars dedicated to loved ones that passed.
It is such a beautiful, loving tribute. The young ones whose lives were cut short are particularly sad. There are also vendors there selling homemade desserts, bread, and my favorite, Mexican hot chocolate. There is live music, and people dressed in beautiful costumes with elaborate face makeup. I admire the beautiful dresses the women wear that are colorful. I’m glad that I finally went to the Day of the Dead celebration…one day I will go to Mexico City to see it as well.
If you like painting and sculpture, there are many events around the city to support small businesses. Third Coast Comics had comic book artist Jill Thompson do a watercolor painting demonstration. She explained her process for creating a comic book page from start to finish. The shop also sold her newest graphic Novel: Wonder Woman: the True Amazon, which is beautifully painted. It’s a great addition to my collection of Wonder Woman books. Third Coast Comics is one of my favorite comic shop in Chicago. It located right off the Loyola Red Line stop. The shop posts a lot of fun events throughout the year, so like their Facebook page in order to get the updates of what’s coming up.
I also went to Obverse Gallery in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood for an exhibit on masks. The gallery’s mission is to offer affordable art, while making sure the artist receives most of the profits from their art. I picked up a steampunk style mask by local artist Vanessa Thomas, which I’m delighted with…I’ve also gotten many compliments on the piece. I also enjoyed the show, and the cocktails were fantastic! The exhibit showcased masks from different cultures so I was happy to see some art inspired by Eastern European folklore. I’m hoping there will be more great events coming up so I can visit the gallery soon.
It’s so beautiful that you should visit the Botanic Gardens and/or the Morton Arboretum to see the changing leaves. Or you can walk along many of the parks in the city like Jackson Park in Hyde Park where the 1893 World’s Columbian Fair was held. Chicago is a city filled with trees so going to some of the gardens is well worth it.
I recommend Weird Chicago Tours for a haunted history of Chicago. You will go to the Biograph Theater where Dillinger was killed, and other sites like Valentines’ Day Massacre. However, my favorite tour from Weird Chicago is the Devil in the White City tour. It takes you through the different settings in the book from the Union Stockyards, to Jackson Park, to Englewood where the Murder House was (it was destroyed and is a post office now). We had a great guide that even made us characters in the story when he was retelling different parts of the book. I think it lasted a few hours, and was definitely worth the price. Probably the best tour I have ever taken. A vampire tour I took in New Orleans is a close second…
There are so many fun things to do here in Chicago any season. I will also write a post for the winter season since many have the blues and want to stay in…but I never let the weather get me down. But I will be going to Costa Rica and Mexico so I will update you all on my adventures when I return.