CHICAGO PRIDE
Chicago’s diversity will be celebrated in grand style at the annual Chicago Pride Fest running June 16-17, (centered at Halsted and Waveland). Three stages of live music, a pet parade (Sunday at noon), drag shows, DJs, dancing and arts and crafts are featured. (Mark your calendars for June 25, the date of the annual Pride Parade.) For more information, visit chicagoevents.com
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For a complete guide to all things summer, check out our Sun-Times Guide to Summer
WEST LOOP EXTRAVAGANZA
Head to Randolph and Peoria June 15-17 for the 22nd annual Taste of Randolph Street celebration. Sixteen local restaurants will be featured, as well as two stages of live music and one DJ stage. Festival entrance: $10 donation. Among the music lineup are Dawes, Chicano Batman, Lucas Nelson & the Promise of the Real, Allen Stone, Trevor Hall, and The Devil Makes Three. Visit starevents.com
FUN FOR ALL AGES
Millennium Park (Michigan at Randolph) is the site for a Family Fun Festival, running June 19-20 under the tent at the Chase Promenade North. Hours 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days. Music, arts and crafts, Wiggleworms and reading circles with Lookingglass Theater and Barrel of Monkeys are on tap. Visit cityofchicago.org.
A scene from “The Domestics.” starring Tyler Hoechlin and Kate Bosworth. | Orion Classics
Music Box wound up
For the second year, the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport, is being devoured by horror, sci-fi and other genre movies during the eight-day Cinepocalypse Festival. The fun starts June 21 with the world premiere of “The Domestics,” an action film starring Tyler Hoechlin and Kate Bosworth as a couple making their way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland infested with sadistic gangs. For tickets and more titles, go to www.cinepocalypsegenrefest.com.
ROCK ON!
Canadian indie rockers The New Pornographers, with Brett Newski, headline Thalia Hall,1807 S. Allport on June 21. Show time is 7 p.m. For tickets, $36 – $60, visit thaliahall.com
“SNL” cast members Colin Jost during “Weekend Update” in Studio 8H on Saturday, May 19, 2018. | Will Heath/NBC
JOST FOR LAUGHS
“Saturday Night Live” viewers seldom see Colin Jost more than a few feet from Michael Che, his longtime co-anchor on the Weekend Update segment. But the comedian (also an “SNL” head writer) has a thriving stand-up career on his own, and he appears June 21 at a sold-out Vic Theatre show (3145 N. Sheffield). Visit victheatre.com
ART FARE
A great way to celebrate Father’s Day might well include a visit to the Evanston Art Fair, aka Custer Fair, running June 16-17 in the Northern suburb. Admission is free to the fest, which boasts hundreds of arts/crafts vendors, food from 30 local restaurants, three music stages filled with the sounds of Chicago jazz, a kid’s area, Arena Stage for theater performance andmore. Everything from pottery and paintings to wearable art and antiques are available for purchase. For complete information, visit custerfair.com
Also this weekend, check out the 60th annual Gold Coast Art Fair, June 17-18, at Grant Park’s Butler Field (between Monroe and Jackson). More than 300 artists from across the globe will be participating in one of the largest art festivals in the world. A food/music oasis and Spin Art machine are part of the fun. Visit starevents.com
HAVE A FLING!
The annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games take place June 16-17, Hamilton Lakes, 1 Pierce Place, Itasca. The fun includes a Caber Toss, Highland Dancing, Scottish and American food, live music, a Haggis eating contest, Haggis hurling contest (tossing 1-pound frozen bags of the unique delicacy), a Men in Kilts contest and more. All proceeds benefit the St. Andrew Society, the oldest not-for-profit in Illinois. Visit scottishfestivalchicago.org
