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12 Of Our Favorite Events In Chicago This Weekend

By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 17, 2017 5:06PM

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Fleurotica. Image via Garfield Park Conservatory's Flickr page.

We've got your weekend plans right here.


FRIDAY MARCH 17

FLEUROTICA: Floral fashion, a runway show, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres make for one fresh evening at Navy Pier. Fleurotica is presented by and benefits Garfield Park Conservatory as part of “Evening In Bloom” gala event. Guests will also get an exclusive first look at the 2017 Chicago Flower & Garden Show. 6 p.m. Tickets are $150.

JAZZ 100: Celebrate the birthdays of jazz legends Dizzy, Ella, Mongo and Monk with "Jazz 100" at Symphony Center at 8 p.m. The evening honors what would be the 100th birthdays of Ella Fitzgerald, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, percussionist Mongo Santamaria, and pianist Thelonious Monk, all born in 1917. The program will feature tributes as well as modern remixes of classic tunes from each artist. Tickets start at $28.

HISTORICAL ABORTION SERVICE FILM: It wasn't always easy to exercise woman's rights in this country. Learn about an illegal but safe abortion service right here in Chicago in the late 60s and early 70s. Jane: An Abortion Service takes a "fascinating political look at a little-known chapter in women's history." Tickets are free.

DRINK DATE LAUGH: Share your dating horror stories with host Paul Farahvar and an audience that (we hope is) sympathetic to your pain for the chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Old Town Social. Don't worry, a few other comedians will be on hand to share their own horror stories as well, so you won't be alone. Feel the pain at The Laugh Factory on Friday night at 8 p.m. Tickets are $17.

BENEFIT CONCERT: Dorian Taj, Hüsker Düdes and Sunken Ships are performing a big ol' rock show to benefit Center On Halsted. Center on Halsted is a community center "dedicated to advancing community and securing the health and well-being of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people of Chicagoland." All three bands are Chicagoist favorites, so head to the show at The Empty Bottle Friday night and rock out for a good cause.


SATURDAY MARCH 18

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Image by Matt Mansueto Photography via Chicago Flower & Garden Show's website.

CHICAGO FLOWER + GARDEN SHOW: “Chicago’s Blooming!” and you can see it all at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show on Navy Pier. Spring is just around the corner when we’re thinking about prepping the lawn and garden. Find inspiration and education for your own garden through displays, seminar speakers and more. The show continues through March 26. Tickets start at $10.

GOOD FOOD FESTIVAL: Real food is trending up and the Good Food Festival and Conference is here to help sustain it. Connect with other farmers, investors and activists this weekend at UIC Forum where there will be exhibitors, workshops, chef demos and more. Visit the festival website for ticket information.

REAL LIFE BRIDESMAIDS: For some of us, the movie Bridesmaids was more like a documentary of the weddings we’ve been in, minus Wilson Phillips. Well, hold on for one more day, because all that is gonna change when the band plays the halftime show at the Bulls / Jazz game. Want to be in the fan pit for the performance? Just wear one of those bridesmaid dresses to Joe’s on Weed St. at 6 p.m., and the first 50 fans will be shuttled to the United Center to be part of the show. Even if you don’t make it in the first 50, we hear the party at Joe’s will be still be worth it. Free.


SUNDAY MARCH 19

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Image via Dungen's Facebook page.

DUNGEN LIVE SOUNDTRACK: It’s not too often that we get to see a concert from a rock band like Dungen at a place like the Garfield Park Conservatory. Along with the Land and Sea Dept., they’ll present show where the band will perform a rather unique project they’ve taken on. The Adventures of Prince Achmed is believed to be the oldest surviving full-length animated feature film and Stockholm quartet was asked to soundtrack it. It’s their first all-instrumental album, and they’ll perform it in full at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

BEAUTY + THE BRUNCH: So maybe watching Emma Watson fall in love with a beast man ain’t our thing. However, we do love beauty tutorials and brunch. Sign up for "Beauty and the Brunch" at Gordon Salon at 11 a.m. and they’ll teach you the styles that will be hot this spring and summer while you enjoy brunch bites from Kanela Breakfast Club. Cost is $20. RSVP here or call 773-388-9999.

THE FUTURE IS FEMALE FEST: “Instead of spending March celebrating women’s history, we’ll celebrate women’s futures,” says festival creator and writer Mya Kagan. The Chicago arm of the fest will feature staged readings and productions of 10-minute plays written by women of all backgrounds focuses on what the subject “The Future is Female” means to them. It all goes down at Chicago Dramatists at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20.

LISTENING PARTY: We are big fans of the 2014 release from The Hushdrops, Tomorrow. So when we learned the band's frontman John San Juan was releasing his first solo album, Smashed, this year we got pretty excited. We've finally heard it and it's an impressive collection of songs that feel to have a slightly more personal nature than his previous work displayed. The music spans multiple genres, and gives San Juan a chance to show off his prodigious talents, once again proving he may be one of Chicago's most commercially under-appreciated musical geniuses. The album won't be out for another couple of months, but you'll have a chance to get an early listen Sunday night at Delilah's when San Juan hosts a listening party for it starting at 9 p.m., followed by DJ sets from San Juan and Anthony Illarde.