2024 Chicago Northside Festival & Street Fair Guide
With Chicago summer quickly approaching, the summer festivals, markets, and fairs are about to start! These events draw a crowd from all over Chicagoland, uniting your community and celebrating through diverse food, music, and art. Highlighting a few different Chicago neighborhoods, the festivities will have you traveling across the Northside. Check out our list below of our can’t-miss festivals and fairs:
Uptown Art Walk
The 5th Annual Uptown Art Walk returns this weekend. This event showcases Uptown’s public art scene and features new murals going up on walls around the neighborhood, art exhibits being hosted by local businesses, the Uptown Art Fair, interactive art activities for all ages, and the Clifton Avenue Block Party. According to the Uptown Chamber of Commerce, in 2024 “30 new murals will be added to Uptown’s growing and unique public art scene.” Learn more here and take part in all of the Uptown Art beauty!
Andersonville Midsommar Fest
This weekend’s street fest is one of the Northside’s best. It has everything you want in a neighborhood festival, from amazing food to creative vendors to live music. The fest was created to celebrate Swedish heritage and culture and its rich impact on the city and its neighborhoods. You might even catch some traditional Swedish music and dance while you’re there! There is something at Midsommar for everyone, including face painting, storytelling, children’s entertainment and beer tents (not for kids). Check out the schedule for the weekend and details here.
Chicago Pride Fest
Chicago Pride Fest® is a two-day street festival held in June on the weekend before the Chicago Pride Parade. The 23rd annual Chicago Pride Fest is a celebration of LGBTQ+ life, culture and community in Chicago’s landmark LGBTQ+ Northalsted neighborhood. From the Chciago Pride Fest website, festival goers can expect “live music on 3 stages, a Youth Pride Space for teens, best of Chicago drag performance, the Proud Pet Parade with prizes, dance exhibitions, Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, guest speakers and over 150 food and merchandise vendors.” Click here for more info on supporting Pride and joining in the fun!
Roscoe Village Burger Fest
Do you want to know where you can find the best burger in Chicago? Look no further than the annual Roscoe Village Burger Fest, bringing together the best burgers from around the city for a mad dash to try them all. From sliders to Wagyu to smash burgers, this mid-July fest has everything a meat lover is craving. You might even find that gourmet burger you’ve been craving and pair it with an ice-cold beer under the Chicago summer sun! This fest also features a beer garden and plenty of places to try new and local beers from around Chicago. Make sure not to miss this street festival where a burger and a beer are all you need to be happy. Find out their 2024 schedule here.
Northalstead Market Days
A quintessential Chicago experience is being a part of market days. Taking place in August in Northalsted, AKA Boystown, this market is lit up with drag shows, live entertainment, and shopping to your heart’s content. This event always draws in big-name performers to entertain the 2-day market and attendance is free! (A $20 suggested donation helps support the LGBTQ+ community and helps them continue to throw the event year after year with such an incredible turnout.) Featuring many LGBTQ+ vendors, you will have the most fun you’ll have all summer while supporting a phenomenal cause. See details on performers, vendors, and dates here.
Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest
For over two decades, the Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest (GAAF) has been a beacon of artistic celebration, embodying grassroots spirit and volunteer-driven ethos on Glenwood Avenue at Morse. Organized by the Rogers Park community, this three-day event showcases art, studios, music and food! Find out more about this end of summer festival here!