This Week In Street Fests: Taste Of Randolph, Six Corners BBQ Fest, Fiestas Puertorriquenas
By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 14, 2012 8:40PM
Taste of Randolph
This festival features the best eats from the West Loop. The food is great, of course, but the music is key to making this festival successful. Friday features Those Darlins and Los Campesinos!, and that's just the start. The rest of the weekend includes Unicycle Loves You, Empires, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, The Hold Steady, Ezra Furman and a bunch of other great acts.
Taste of Randolph is on Randolph Street between Peoria and Racine, Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday noon to 10 p.m.
Six Corners BBQ Fest
Pretty much every BBQ joint in the city will camp out at this Northwest side meat festival. And if you think you can make a better meat than the rest, enter the Meat on Milwaukee cook-off for amateurs. Filmlovers should stop by the Portage Theater to see Chicago-centric films and digital shorts presented by Chicago Filmmakers. The musical lineup is pretty good, too, featuring The Waco Brothers and the Polkaholics on Saturday, and Brighton, MA on Sunday.
Six Corners BBQ Fest is at the intersection of Milwaukee, Irving Park and Cicero on Saturday noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday noon to 8 p.m.
Fiestas Puertorriquenas
The main event is in Humboldt Park, of course, but there are other smaller celebrations in Hermosa, Avondale and the West Side, plus the Puerto Rican Day parade downtown. The celebration of Puerto Rican culture will be hard to miss this weekend. Hit up any spot for food, music and art.
The Puerto Rican Day Parade starts at noon on Saturday, June 16 at 250 E. Balbo Ave.; Fiestas Puertorriquenas is in Humboldt Park on Division Street west of Western Avenue.
Festa Pasta Vino
Head to Little Italy to load up on carbs from bruschetta to cannoli at Festa Pasta Vino. The festival features pasta and vino, as you might predict, but also tastings and demonstrations. Featured restaurants include La Fontanella, Bacchanalia, Miceli's Deli, Ignotz and Il Vicinato. Plus, live performers will keep the amore in the air with Italian tunes, including Frank Sinatra and Frankie Valli tribute acts and a performance from John Michael Coppola, a former "Jersey Boys" castmember.
Festa Pasta Vino is at 24th and Oakley, Friday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday noon to 11 p.m.; Sunday noon to 9 p.m.
Chicago Pizza Fest
Uptown is trying to resurrect this festival after a three-year hiatus. You'd think there'd be plenty of room in Chicago for a pizza festival, right? Anyway, Chicago Pizza Fest will feature a pizza competition with four awards categories: Best Chicago Style (pan/deep-dish), Best Thin Style, Best Gourmet/Unique and The "People's Choice." Judging is Sunday at 3:30 p.m. There are also a pizza speed eating competition on Saturday afternoon. For music, they have new wave/synthpop band Berlin, folk rockers Delta Rae, and hip hop tribute act Too White Crew.
Chicago Pizza Fest is at Wilson and Broadway, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.