Chicago Summer Festival Schedule Guide

Nine months of winter and three months of summer. That is pretty much how it goes in Chicago. This might explain why during the three months of summer, there is a plethora of things to do in the Windy City as Chicagoans and tourists alike try to cram a year's worth of outdoor activities into three months. Luckily for us, the City gives up plenty of choices.

When discussing summer festivals in Chicago, it begins and ends with the Taste of Chicago. The Taste of Chicago, held in Chicago's beautiful Grant Park, is a week long festival of food, drink and music. Chicago is known for delicious food and the Taste will give you a chance to try lots of different foods from more than 60 of Chicago's finest restaurants.

In addition to the food, there is also plenty of live entertainment including a 4^th of July concert. This year's lineup has not yet been announced but previous years have included John Mayer, Counting Crows, Wilco, John Hiatt and many others.

The Taste of Chicago can be either incredibly inexpensive (free) or a little on the pricey side. How much you spend completely depends on how much you eat and drink. There is no admission and the musical acts are free. You purchase food and beverage tickets to pay for the concessions. They are sold in strips of 12 for $8. The food can run between 1-4 tickets for a sample size with nothing costing more than 10 tickets.

Tickets can either be purchased at the festival or in advance online or at Dominick's grocery stores.

The Taste of Chicago runs from June 27^th through July 6^th. Admission begins daily at 11 am and the fest closed at 9pm. The official website for the Taste of Chicago can be found here.

If music is your thing, then look no further than this year's Lollapolooza festival in Chicago's Grant Park. This year's concert extravaganza will be held August 1-3. The 2008 lineup was just announced and the stars will be out in full force. This year's lineup includes Radiohead, Wilco, Kanye West, The Raconteurs, a reuniting of Rage Against the Machine and many others.