In another sign of spring, Ravinia announced its full music lineup for the season today. As in previous years, this year's schedule is a good balance of popular acts, jazz and classical music. The name acts are a mix of today's popular acts and your parents' nostalgia acts: Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Maroon 5, Five for Fighting, Steely Dan, Tony Bennett's 85th birthday concert, Lyle Lovett, k d lang and Lynyrd Skynyrd are all on the schedule. The one we're penciling in is Robert Plant's June 16 concert, which has all the earmarks of selling out the fastest and seeing a rush to the lawn reminiscent of his 2008 Ravinia appearance with Allison Krauss or the benchmark for Ravinia lawn rushes, a 1998 Poi Dog Pondering concert. more ›

While one of the city's baseball teams is still in the playoff hunt, it's never too early to turn our attention to the fall/winter sports. With the Bears getting ready to roll and the Blackhawks preparing for a title defense, it's time to get caught up with the Bulls and today's a good a time as any as the NBA released its 2010-2011 schedule today. We already knew about the Bulls' marquee Christmas morning match up against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden but now we can map out the rest of the season [PDF]. Here are a few highlights: more ›

We're just four weeks away from the annual Pitchfork Music Festival and it's time to start putting together your attack plan for the weekend. The fest has revealed set times for the weekend so you can start mapping out how you're going to attack the fest and see all there is to see. Among other things we now know, the earlier start time on Friday isn't all early so you won't have to miss too much work. Gates will open at 3 p.m. with the first act hitting the stage at 3:30 p.m. Gates open at high noon on both Saturday and Sunday. Three-day passes are sold out and single day Saturday and Sunday passes are gone as well so single-day passes for Friday are all that are left. more ›

The NHL continues to play peek-a-boo with the conference finals schedule for some reason, refusing to release the full schedule until both series are set even though we've known for days now of the Blackhawks-Sharks match-up. And while we won't know the full schedule of the conference finals round until later today, we at least know when the series will start. The puck will drop on Game One of the Western Conference Finals Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Chicago time with the game being televised nationally on NBC. The Eastern Conference Finals, between the Montreal Canadiens and the winner of tonight's Boston-Philly Game Seven, will start Sunday evening at 6 p.m. on Versus. more ›

The NHL has finally set the schedule for the highly anticipated (at least here in Chicago) Conference Semi-Final rematch with Vancouver. more ›

It's a busy week for the NFL as the league desperately grasps for some off-season attention. On Tueaday, the league released its schedule for the 2010 season, meaning we finally know who, when and where the Bears will be playing this fall. As always, they'll face division rivals Detroit, Green Bay and Minnesota twice. They'll also play the NFC East and AFC East. Rounding out the final two opponents are the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks. For the first time since 2004, they'll open at home when they host the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field on September 12. The Bears wrap the season on the frozen tundra, facing the Packers at Lambeau Field on January 2. For the first time in the team's history, they'll be playing an international regular season game as the Buffalo Bills host the Bears in Toronto on November 7. In spite of a subpar year in '09, the Bears still managed to land as many prime time games as the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. The Bears host Green Bay on Monday Night Football September 27 and also play the Vikings on Monday Night on December 27. On October 3, the Giants will host the Bears in the Sunday prime time game. November 18's meeting with the Dolphins is a Thursday night game. more ›

The Blackhawks and Bulls got the holiday off but they're both revving back into action tonight and keep it up through the next week to finish out 2009. Here's what's on tap: more ›

Admit it, it can be pretty hard to wrap your head around all the bands playing Lollapalooza, and the daily schedule can be labyrinthine to navigate. Lollapalooza rolled out a free iPhone app that makes mapping out your three days at the festival easier than ever. more ›

Lollapalooza isn't the only fest on the schedule-release bandwagon this week. Our friends at the 'Fork have just released their schedule for the '09 fest and it looks solid. Also, if you were waiting to pick up Sunday tickets, you're S.O.L. as Pitchfork reports they're all sold out. Single-day tickets for Friday and Saturday are still available, though. more ›

We're just a hair over seven weeks from the kick-off of Lollapalooza 2009 but that's plenty of time to figure out your gameplan for criss-crossing Grant Park all weekend to catch the acts you're dying to see. The official schedule is out and ready for your perusal, though at last check it's a bit slow to load as we're sure everyone is already trying to piece together their own personal plans and pondering, "Kings of Leon or Depeche Mode? TV on the Radio or Lykke Li?" And while three-day passes remain on sale at $205 each, you can now score single day passes for the *ahem* low price of $80 per day. more ›

With the NFL's release of the entire league schedule last night, we learned who, when and where the Bears will play their games in 2009. more ›

It’s days like today -- when the forecast temperature of 66 degrees is twelve degrees higher than today’s normal -- that get us thinking about summer. And what do we love most about summer in the city? Street festivals! Mark your calendar know for the city’s biggest and best festivals. more ›