Jim Javenkoski, the founder of Local Food Wisdom, will be hosting the latest in his series of locavore dinners at In Fine Spirits on January 24. The goal of Local Food Wisdom is to bring people together to eat, learn and discuss local food issues, with "casual yet informative conversations." Sounds much more fun, and much tastier, than listening to a lecture! 5 courses, all-inclusive with beer pairings, will cost you $75. The video after the jump is a look at the first Local Food Wisdom dinner, hosted by StarGrazer Cafe - it will make you want to quit your job and go work on a farm, especially on a grey day like today. more ›

Last Friday, we posted some great special meals for those who prefer to go out for Thanksgiving. Why stay home and dirty up your entire kitchen when you can make someone else do the cooking for you - and at a very reasonable price? Here are a few more special deals that caught our eye - some traditional, some... not so much. more ›

Living baseball legends, Chicago aldermen and local team mascots rallied on Daley Plaza Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the beginning of baseball season in Chicago. Kids were invited to participate in pitching contests as mascots from Illinois' major and minor league baseball teams looked on from the stage. more ›

October in Chicago makes us feel like kids again. This month, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Park District have filled the calendar with Halloween-themed activities perfect for the toddler set and their kid-at-heart parents. Here are our favorites in the lead up to the big holiday. The park district (along with Walgreens) is sponsoring events to get you in the spirit at over forty different neighborhood parks from Bessemer to Oz throughout... more ›

While the other families we know hightail it out to the greener grassed suburbs, we here at the Chicagoist have found more and more to love about the city. Our most recent crush is on the Art of Play. We initially thought the Art of Play was a tourism gimmick, as it is sponsored by the city and state Tourism bureau, as well as the Mayor's Office of Special Events and other Chicago cultural organizations.... more ›

We took a break from our Dungeons and Dragons to check out the competitive gaming taking place at the Chicago Cultural Center this weekend, which played host to the 2007 U.S. Open. We’re not talking about tennis here. We’re talking about the Rubik’s Cube Championship, where the winner of the 3x3x3 Speed Solve gets an all-expense-paid trip to the 2007 World Rubik’s Cube Championship in Budapest. The competition was was sanctioned by the World Cube... more ›

at the Christkindlmarket made about as much sense as tits on a bull, the city of Chicago now says it objects to the ads because it would be too commercial. more ›

While Lollapalooza is casting a big shadow over the other music events this summer, you don’t need to spend $85 (or $100 or $115) to see live music in the city. Metromix has posted dates for the various fests that celebrate local neighborhoods and musical genres this summer. Lineups for the neighborhood fests have yet to be announced but the schedules for the 21st Annual Chicago Gospel Music Festival and the 22nd Annual Chicago Blues Festival are out. Plus, they’re free. more ›

Bloomin' Terrific, the City's celebration of springtime, starts off it's season today at Daley Plaza. Every Thursday around lunchtime there are activities and a market from now until May 12. It's probably too late for you to attend today's event on creating herb containers but you can still stop by the market, which is open from 8 am - 2pm every Thursday to sell flowers and plants. So get offya butt, outta your cube for a while and attend one of the other weekly events: more ›

Yesterday, The Mayor’s Office of Special Events announced the musical lineup for this summer’s Taste of Chicago. It’s the usual mix of artists that fall into two categories: it-would-be-cool-to-see-them-live and all-you-have-to-do-is-ask. more ›

Wow. Chicago really loves Halloween.. really, really loves Halloween. We started looking into city-sponsored events that are happening to celebrate our 3rd favorite holiday (Christmas 1st, Thanksgiving 2nd) and were overwhelmed by the options. There's a crapload of events going on. We'll try to summarize them here, but if you want a complete list of happenings, download this PDF of a brochure put out by the Mayor's Office of Special Events. Best of all, most events are FREE! more ›

So we’ve been talking about movies in Chicago (, etc), and we were getting a little curious about how that’s all regulated and stuff. It turns out there’s a Chicago Film Office as part of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events. The CFO works to “attract and accommodate” projects in Chicago and “prompt the economic and cultural development that filmmaking provides while striking an effective balance with the needs of the community.” Score. more ›

Oof. We’re getting off to a late start this morning here in the Chicagoist offices; we blame the humidity and last night’s late showing of Ah, sweat and confusion, thy name is laziness. more ›

Saturday and Sunday, the water show portion of the event runs from 9:30am - 10:30am and the air show runs from 11:00am - 4:00pm. Longtime announcer Herb Hunter delivers play-by-play coverage from North Avenue Beach. more ›

Farmer's markets are cool. Period. You got your fresh tomatos, greens, maybe some fresh eggs, and then there's the whole thing where you get to meet the people that grew your food. When you live in a city, that kind of connection to the earth is a nice thing, and starting June 24, the Fulton Market area will have a night farmers' market every Thursday, 4pm to 8pm through October 28. For those of us who've been around long enough to remember when the swankiest place on West Randolph was Barney's teak house on Halsted and Randolph ("Yes sir, Senator!"), a night farmer's market seems like life coming full circle, since West Randolph and Fulton Market were actually wholesale food markets about twenty years ago. more ›