The Aura of August is so intoxicating in Chicago! Summer has started to make Chicago sweat, and people are ready to be served the best time ever in the Windy City! August 2024 brings back so many annual events and festivals. I have made you an amazing list of events and festivals from the Chicago August Events Calendar that will fill your schedule with events in Chicago!
I know you are the most excited about something special (shush!!) this month. Let’s count what are the things to do in Chicago this August for you this summer! The musical festivals this month make August more alive than ever. But wait, there’s more! Friendship Day is celebrated dedicatedly this month with beautiful events in Chicago! Don’t forget the National Night Out! Plus, the annual and quirky festivals, exhibitions, and parties 🌟are always in the limelight!
Explore events and things to do in August in Chicago as it unfolds its summertime surprises, inviting you to savor the unique offerings that make this weekend in Chicago special.
Chicago Breathes Music Festivals
Events from August 1st to 31st
The one living in Chicago knows what it means as Spring steps into the city! Yes, it’s time for the best music festivals in Chicago!🎶 Music is in every vein of the Windy City and Spring brings out the best of music for people. Come enjoy the ones which you fancy the most.
LatiNXT Music Festival
The yearly celebration of current Latin music and art at Navy Pier is curated in collaboration with Future Rootz. This free two-day event will showcase a range of contemporary music from the Latin American community with an emphasis on emerging musical trends. Alongside a variety of artisan sellers, there will be musical performances at Navy Pier’s Lake Stage, Beer Garden, and Wave Wall.
📍 Navy Pier, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 24 and 25, 2024
Chicago Jazz Festival
An annual event that takes place over Labor Day weekend consistently, the Chicago Jazz Festival is a free festival where you can see top-notch musical programming to support all styles of jazz. The festival promotes awareness and appreciation for one of the city’s most cherished art forms by showcasing local talent in Chicago alongside different national and international performers.
📍 Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 29 to September 1, 2024
North Coast Music Festival
Three days of music are devoted to the North Coast Music Festival every Labor Day weekend with a wide range of musical styles on the schedule, such as jam bands, indie, hip-hop, and electronic. Since its 2010 launch, the festival has grown in popularity throughout the Midwest region of the United States. Along with hosting food vendors and art exhibits, the event also contributes a portion of its revenues to local organizations.
📍 Seatgeek Stadium, Bridgeview, United States
🗓️ August 30 to September 1, 2024
Grant Park Music Festival
Before I brag about Grant Park Music Festival, your favorite part of it, Lollapalooza is here like every year, where people go crazy over the artists who show up to perform!🧑🎤 Pop, rock, R&B, blues, and all other genres that you can think of will be performed by an insanely huge lineup of artists. I mean, if Conan Gray and Hozier are there, I think we don’t have any excuse NOT to be there!
Taking about Grant Park, unlike other ones on the list, this festival does not last just for a couple of days! From the month of June to August, Grant Park Music Festival blesses people’s days with classical music, a world-class orchestra🎷, and a chorus that changes something very core to you! It has been a tradition for 90 years, a summer tradition of musical sensation!
📍 Grant Park, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 1 to 4, 2024
World’s Largest Karaoke
Oh, hello, the hero of every karaoke night every Tuesday😏. Do you want to upgrade from singing in front of 50 people to 5,000 people? Throw all fears and cautions away because Chicago is for daredevils! Empty Bottle’s largest karaoke party brings together thousands of people who love music and singing and gives them a platform as well.😃 It is such a jolly and fun environment when people come and give their shot at singing their favorite tunes.
📍 The Salt Shed Outdoors (Fairgrounds), Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 8, 2024
Green Day The Smashing Pumpkins Rancid & The Linda Lindas
The nature lovers (quite literally🌿) are back on the road with a tour, but not alone this time! Along with The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas, they will promote their new album named Saviors! If you haven’t heard it yet, please do so; when they come to Chicago, you should be there screaming your heart out with them!🤩 It’s not just the new album welcome tour but also a celebration for the 10th anniversary of Dookie and the 20th anniversary of American Idiot! Triple celebration? Hell yes!!
📍 Wrigley Field, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 13, 2024
23rd Annual Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest
A cozy neighborhood festival that has been going on for 23 years, this art fest has made a name for itself and now attracts more than 120 artists and over 30+ live music acts on two stages around the District! This art fair also has kids’ artmaking activities (so they let you ogle the art there👀), food and drinks from local restaurants, and live demos of performance art and artmaking!
📍 Glenwood Ave, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 16 to 18, 2024
Retro On Roscoe
Go back to when music was legendary and vibes were vintage with this music festival!📻 The taste of the past is always sweet, and Chicagoans will seek it here at Retro on Roscoe! Summertime festival-goers will be entertained by popular favorites and throwbacks mixed with live music to keep them moving throughout the night. There will be an Antique and Classic Car and Motorcycle show🏍️, vendors, top restaurants, and an artisan market!
📍 2000 W Roscoe St, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 09 to 11, 2024
Edison Park Fest
In Chicago, no corner goes without a celebration! At one more corner of the city, Edison Park Fest happens; it’s an annual music and arts festival. The park turns jolly and fun when every corner is filled with live music performances, local vendors, and food trucks. Take your family along for a fun day out👨👩👧👦 to enjoy music in nature!
📍 Edison Park, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 2 to 3, 2024
Northalsted Market Days
June has passed but Chicago doesn’t simply celebrate Pride Month in June! This weekend-long, LGBTQ+-friendly festival is happening in the city for the 42nd year with a lineup like never before. 5 stages, 250+ vendors, food and drink, dance exhibitions, drag performances, and well, what more can you wish for now ha?🤷♀️ More than 100000+ people attend it every year, and of course, they will; it is one of the top 10 Chicago festivals by BizBash and the 2023 Best of Gaycitiies Winner for Travel Worthy Festival!
📍 North Halsted Street, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 10 to 14, 2024
Chicago Air and Water Show
What does your bucket list look like? Does it include the impeccable Chicago Air and Water Show? If not, you are making a mistake, my friend!❌ It is happening this August, celebrating its 66th anniversary, and, as always, organized by the City of Chicago and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)!
This two-day event attracts more than 2 million viewers who witness the show from the beachfront in Lake Michigan! The water splashes and air whooshes when boats, parachutes, dive teams, and airplanes ✈️ show off their spectacular displays!
Scream and Bounce at Concerts in Chicago
Events from August 1st to 31st
When so many famous artists knock on the doorstep of Chicago, it welcomes them with open arms.🤗 Concerts in Chicago are a treat where your experience triples and your love for the band or artist increases a thousand times. See which ones are here this month!
Metallica
Formed in 1981, this legendary American heavy metal band is known for its aggressive sound and socially conscious lyrics! Metallica’s concert in Chicago comes right on top when you come across metal as a genre! To match their uniqueness, their tour is two days with completely different experiences on both days!😁 There will be 30 songs pulled from the 40+ years of rich music-making history!
📍 Soldier Field, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 9 to 11, 2024
The Script
The Script has a fondness for pop, rock, soul, and hip-hop genres. The boys’ seventh album, “Satellites,” is on the road. Their most famous song, “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved,” was featured in Heidi Klum’s Enchanted Forest piece. When you hear them, at least some of their songs will sound familiar because popularity is not their issue!😋 You are in Chicago, so you are obviously lucky to see them live, so GO ON!
📍 House of Blues Chicago, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 23, 2024
Blue Man Group
Experience the Blue Men’s trademark sound of unorthodox instruments mixed with commonplace items like paint, pipes, and tubes! You’ll be left asking, “How did they do that?”🤯 Chicago will get to see the blend of rock, percussion, and visual insanity. Anticipate the unexpected with lots of humor, colorful and bright visuals, and interactive moments that involve the audience in the action.
📍 Briar Street Theatre, Chicago, United States
🗓️ Multiple Dates
Chicago Ducky Derby
Have you ever seen the Chicago River filled with tens of thousands of ducks🦆 and wondered, “What is happening?” No, it’s not an accident. It is the Chicago Ducky Derby, an annual event featuring a lip-biting race to the finish line to raise money for Special Olympics!
You can adopt ducks and bet as well! It is such a fun and simple way to keep everyone engaged in such a race.💸 Every year, the event raises upwards of $300,000 for over 20,000 athletes and over 10,000 young athletes.
August Aura of Festivals
Events from August 1st to 31st
Did you miss out on some amazing festivals last August? Don’t worry; there’s a spectacular lineup of annual festivals in Chicago that you can cover up! These thrilling traditions happen like clockwork each August, so if you missed out last time, get ready to check off some bucket-list moments!✅
Evanston Art & Big Fork Festival
Join other art admirers as you peruse hundreds of original works featuring paintings, sculptures, jewelry, mixed media, photography, and much more from an amazing 150 juried artists. Visit the Kids Art Zone with the little artist in your life, try a painting class, or take a breather at the extensive tasty meals section. Find a varied collection of beverages and drinks to keep you company.
📍 800 Church St, Evanston, IL 60201-3770, United States
🗓️ August 16, 2024
Sabor Taco y Tequila Fest
Chicago can give you three things in abundance—tacos, tequila, and terrific fun at every festival! And it pleases me to tell you that all three things came together again at the Sabor Fest. Experiment with all types of tequila (only as shots!🤭), try Chicago’s best Michelada vendors and unique recipes🌮, and of course, tacos, as the cheery on the cake, amazing live music, local art, and merch vendors. It’s everything that you can ask a festival for!
📍 1800 S Blue Island Ave, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 2 to 4, 2024
Belize Day in the Park
Among all the fun that people have at these large-scale festivals in Chicago, the Belizean Festival in the USA is the longest-running and has been raising funds for the past 44 years. You read that right. Chicago Belize Educational Fund hosts this festival, and all the funds raised go to a non-profit organization for disadvantaged children of Belize. I love how Chicago keeps me in awe of its warm heart!❤️
📍 Burnham Park, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 4, 2024
The Great American Lobster Fest
Oh yes, I know you are that foodie who would go north or south to explore and find the best. Well, you have ended up at the right place right now because it is time for the Lobster Fest Chicago’s most beloved place, Navy Pier! A fresh lobster🦞 from the cold waters off the East Coast, chilled beverages, craft shopping, and, the god of all, live music performances🎶; all of this will simply take you on cloud 9! But if I were you, I would die to simply go and watch the Lake Michigan and Chicago skyline view!
📍 Navy Pier, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 10 and 11, 2024
9th Annual Sangria Festival Chicago
It is impeccable to see how Chicago is so diverse that it has every culture’s festivals at its fingertips. Chicago’s only Sangria Festival brings a culmination of Latin and the art of Sangria! Just like the Belizean Festival, they also help raise awareness and funds for Humboldt Park’s San Lucas Church Hot Meals Program for their fight against hunger in our neighborhoods.🫶 They just make raising funds fun for you with live world music, flamenco dancers, a samba parade💃, art activities, restaurants, chefs, bartenders, artisan vendors, and games (lots of them!).
📍 3021 W. Division Street, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 17 and 18, 2024
Titan Walls Mural Festival
It is not common to feel peace and calm when you see a masterpiece of any art form! But here at Chicago’s largest Mural Festival, you will feel the serenity roll over your body like air. Noteworthy or emerging artists, it doesn’t matter, enjoy all the mural art while you can. Listen to live music and visit local vendors and small businesses while you dwell in the art of amazing and talented artists!
📍 417 North Ashland Avenue Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 10, 2024
Do You Still Celebrate Friendship’s Day?
Exchanging friendship bands and testing who is a true friend was all done on one day in childhood, and that was Friendship’s Day!👭 The gestures on this day eventually have evolved throughout time and age, but the feeling remains the same on Friendship’s Day in Chicago!
Chicago brings joy to me when I see what it does on such an amazing day!💕 One amazing event is for those who want to build more bonds in life, like a Field Day for Teens, where they can mingle and giggle with their age groups!
95th Annual Bud Billiken Parade
Order than your age multiplied by yours right now, the 95th Annual Bud Billiken Parade has been in the lives of generations of families across the country since its inception!🥳 The whole city and its most significant departments play a huge role in organizing it every year.
Parade has a beauty to it which can’t be described! Categories like Best Flaot and Best Dance Team keep everyone motivated and showcase their unique skills!🕺 After the Parade, everyone (me as well) is invited to the park’s festivities!
Sunny Summer Vibes
Events from August 1st to 31st
Sun shines bright and so do summer events in Chicago! Here are some of the best annual and loved events that people enjoy in summer every year.
West Loop Art Fest
For a leisurely evening stroll or a late-summer shopping experience, the West Loop Art Fest is the ideal setting this August in Chicago. Talented artists from across the nation will have a wide variety of art mediums on show and for sale. This is a fun-filled weekend for the whole family, complete with interactive art, kid-friendly activities, and live music!
📍 Fulton Market, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 30 to September 1, 2024
Summer Fireworks at Navy Pier
Chicago has a gem that it shows off shamelessly (as it should)! No, no, not any diamond, but its favorite spot, Navy Pier!😎 This summer, it brings its routine practice of the best fireworks show from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. The show will have a background of dramatic and popular music, and the show will occur twice a week (Wednesdays and Saturdays)! Summer in Chicago just got romantic and sparkly✨, thanks to yet again, Nay Pier!
📍 Navy Pier, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 3 to 31, 2024
Bronzeville Summer Nights
The warmth of summer and Bronzeville hot different when they celebrate their community, commerce, and culture for the past 12 years. An evening under the stars where creativity, relaxation, and bonding flourish, ahh, that just feels amazing on a summer night!🌆 Live music by Blaq Ice Productions sets the right tone for Summer Nights and Fun House Fridays in the Windy City!
📍 4210 S Berkeley Ave, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 9, 2024
Chicago Triathlon
I know I am suggesting running and in summer? Ahh, that might sound like a nightmare, but trust me, Supertri organizes the world’s largest and most accessible triathlons, where everyone from kids to grandparents can compete for various categories!🏃♀️ Running through the shores of Lake Michigan is truly a fun experience. Despite the heat☀️, it’s an experience that you shouldn’t miss!
📍 Monroe Harbor, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 24 and 25, 2024
Fan Expo Chicago
Readers, comics, and crazies like me, you all can find like-minded people at the Fan Expo! If you are a fan of any comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, gaming, or cosplay🧛♀️, this place will feel like a home and a warm hug to you! Tens and thousands of fans enter the ultimate playground to share and make experiences! You can go all out here with costumes and dress-ups. No one ain’t judging you, people! 😉
📍 Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 16 and 18, 2024
Chicago SummerDance
Dance is the language of love. So Chicago asked gently, why not celebrate love together?🫂 And here we are with Chicago SummerDance! Summer is dedicated to dancing around the parks of the city, where workshops for many different cultures, performances, and random dancing sessions take place. It is truly the time of the year when you take a stroll in the park and hear some new and amazing music and people dancing randomly👯, having the time of their lives!
📍 Chicago, United States
🗓️ Multiple Dates
Candlelight Concerts
Magical and fierce, Candlelight concert and Beyoncé, doesn’t that go parallel? Well, when the venue is this beautiful, which is lit with only candles🕯️, and the whole setup plays the best and most loved songs by Beyoncé, I mean, who wouldn’t find that romantic? The Candlelight Concert’s Tribute to Beyoncé is the one for you because Beyoncé and Bae are the best combination!😚
Did you think Chicago would just give you the pleasure of one concert? Hahaha, funny!🤭 There’s more for you here. In case you miss one, Rihanna will be there for you. Candlelight Concert’s Tribute to Rihanna is a spectacular one as well, where the tunes that you fell in love💖 with in all her songs will be played live by a fantastic set of orchestra!
Going Back to School in Style!
Events from August 1st to 31st
Do you also wish that your kids start their school happily? Well, there is a trick behind it! Take them to Back to School events in Chicago and they will always love you for that!
Calumet City Backyard BBQ Vendor Expo & Back2School Kickoff
Who wants to start the school year with so much stress or anxiety, right? Kicking off the beginning days with celebration is important, and “Too Offishall” understands that.🥳 Go Back to School in Chicago in style with mouthwatering BBQ treats along with your family! You can find local vendors and lots of entertainment to make you happy before you head to school.🎒
📍 79 BBQ Smoked Meats, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 18, 2024
Back to School Community Day
Oh, isn’t it a task to get your kids straighten up before school begins again, right? Well, Reed’s Temple Church made it easier for you! The engaging activities and resources for families (and kids) here will make it a thousand times simpler.😉 There will be free school supplies, free vaccines for all ages, free haircuts, and a range of health professionals who will be there to give you the best advice for your kids! Better safe than sorry, right?
📍 Reed’s Temple Church of God, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 24, 2024
Back-to-School Supplies Give Away
As much as you prepared practically, did you pray to God or the universe (or anything that you believe in)? Ask for peace and love before you go back to school. It will help you with your studies or simply give you strength when you get in a fight!👊 If you still aren’t convinced, no worries! You can show up after the worship for refreshments and free school supplies while you mingle with others!
📍 First United Methodist Church of Oak Park, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 4, 2024
LYD Back to School Bash!
I believe that as much as kids enjoy back-to-school bashes, parents have a lot of fun, too! At this event, you can mingle with the community and enjoy free food, amazing music, and backpack giveaways.🎒 Schools can be difficult for kids, especially if your kids are a bit shy! So, it is an amazing way to open up and get to know everyone before school begins.
📍 901 W 66th St, Chicago, United States
🗓️ August 3, 2024
Wrapping Up!
So there you have it, the amazing list of events that will fill you with thrill, excitement, adventure, and serenity and groove you into a festive vibe at once! It was my job to share the best events from the list with you! Now, it’s your turn to go to the best ones you found.
If you wish to explore any events in Chicago further, click on the link below to have the events that will make your August a blast!
