Illinois Obscura Society Celebrates The History And Science Of Carnivals

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 13, 2015 5:30PM

Thom Britton will be hosting tonight's Illinois Obscura Society party, photo by Serena Valenti from Britton's website

Atlas Obscura is kind of like National Geographic for the digital age, filled with interesting locations all over the world that makes us want to travel all the more. Tonight Atlas Obscura launches the Illinois Obscura Society,which "seeks out secret histories, unusual access, and opportunities for our community to explore strange and overlooked places hidden all around us." Sounds pretty cool to us.

To celebrate the launch, the Society is throwing itself a party themed around the history and science of the carnival in Illinois tonight at Salvage One, in partnership with Enjoy Illinois. Attendees will learn all about carnival and midway happenings through the years while being submerged in a party surrounded by fire eaters, bed-of-nails-layers, mind-readers, side show attractions, and "displays of local curiosities and culture."

Top it all off with snacky bites from Nuts on Clark, an open bar by Frankfort Spirits and a number of food trucks that are supposed to be on site and this sounds like a heckuva party. The best part is you can totally claim you're going for the history, culture and science lessons promised while partying your now enlightened butt off. The party kicks off at 9 p.m. Tickets are $55 and must be bought in advance.

Salvage One is located at 1840 W Hubbard.