It's Magnificent Mile Lights Festival Day

By Marcus Gilmer in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 21, 2009 6:30PM

Heading downtown for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival? You won't be alone: the Trib reports 800,000 are expected at the fest which has already kicked off and runs all day, climaxing with a parade this evening from 5:30 p.m. til 6:55 p.m. Of course, there are some reroutes and traffic issues to deal with if you're heading downtown for any reason. If you're taking the CTA, be sure to check in here for their bus reroutes and if you're driving, here's a list of road closures, courtesy of the Tribune.

• Walton Street, from State Street to Dearborn Street, starting at 4 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. today
• Upper Illinois Street, east of Michigan Avenue, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today
• Oak Street, from State to Dearborn, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. today
• Oak Street from State to Michigan; North Michigan from Oak to Wacker; and Upper Wacker Drive from Michigan east, all from 4:45 p.m. to about 7 p.m. today

If you prefer to enjoy the parade from the comfort of your own home, ABC 7 is airing it tonight starting at 6 p.m. And if you do head down for the fest, be sure to snap some photos and share them in our Flickr pool.