Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 11/2 and Beyond

The cool temps are finally here to stay as the last month of fall begins! While most of the outdoor events have closed down, there is still plenty of indoor goodness waiting for you around every corner of Chicago and beyond! So layer up and head out and find something fun to do this weekend.

Now, let's get on with your Chicago Curated Weekend!

ART GALLERIES & SPECIAL EVENTS

THIS WEEKEND ONLY

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3 & 4 (& BEYOND)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6uEPncrNXs

The Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers @ Credit Union 1 Arena & Your Place, 525 S. Racine Ave. or the spot where you can best appreciate a good barrel-aged brew awards show, Friday 6:00pm – 10:00pm, Saturday 1:00pm – 5:00pm, 21+
WHAT: The Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers is celebrating 20 years of delicious brews!
SO WHAT: FoBAB‘s incredible popular festival has breweries send in their rarest and best barrel-aged drinks to be judged! Breweries from across the country submitted a wonderful variety of beers, ciders, meads and perrys, so there will be plenty for you to taste. The award ceremony on Saturday will also be livestreamed at 2pm!
NOW WHAT: You can watch the livestreamed ceremony for free but if you’re up for the in-person tastings tickets are $85!!

Sauced Night Market @ WNDR Museum, 1130 West Monroe Street, 5:00pm – 10:00pm, All Ages
WHAT: A night-time market in Chicago’s coolest venue
SO WHAT: Sauced Night Market makes its way to the WNDR Museum to help kick off the holiday season. The roving night market has been showcasing vendors for quite a few years now and they’ll be impressing with another great lineup of local vendors slinging their awesome wares across two nights! The full lineup of vendors  can be found at their website.
NOW WHAT: It’s free with RSVP!

FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3 - 5 (& BEYOND)

The Neo-Futurists' The Infinite Wrench @ The Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N Ashland, Friday and Saturday 10:30pm, Sunday 7:00pm, 16+
WHAT: Quick plays live and online!
SO WHAT: The Neo-Futurists are back! Their Infinite Wrench is an  ongoing, ever-changing attempt to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes for a live audience. Now it's actually a live audience that will be enjoying the performance in person! With plenty of COVID precautions in place, you'll be able to enjoy the funny, disgusting, profound, terrifying, irreverent, and downright entertaining show with friends!
NOW WHAT: Join the Neo-Futurists this weekend for $15! Head over to their website to see all they have planned now that in-person audiences are a thing again! If you're still a little anxious about going out, The Infinite Wrench Goes Viral will be continuing til February (and possibly beyond) over at their Patreon

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4

The Old Lady Project @ Piven Theatre, 927 Noyes Street , Evanston.
WHAT:  The staged readings of The Matter with Family by Amy Tofte and Women of a Certain Age by Steve Duprey will be held 3-5pm., and Elephants’ Graveyard by Marjorie A. Williamson 7:30-9:30pm. Actors include Ana Maria Alvarez, Elaine Carlson, Carmen Carvello, Chuck Greenia, Marssie Mencotti, Ann Stuart, and Patricia Tinsley.
SO WHAT: The Old Lady Project encourages play or musical and screenplay development for female-identifying characters over age 50, a demographic mostly unseen in mainstream media. Founder Angela Allyn said, “The entire population is aging and people want to see their demographic reflected in stories. I can put one little drop in this ocean.” Director Joan Mazzonelli added that the benefits of working with older women include that “they have a broader outlook. They know how to work cooperatively, and have a lot of humor.”
NOW WHAT: The first submission cycle received over 600 scripts from 30 countries, winnowed down by a national panel of 16 actors, directors, producers and technicians, aged 20-75. OLP will open the 2024 submission cycle for any length or genre on November 5 at https://filmfreeway.com/OldLadyProject. Priority is given to works with multiple mature female roles, and to new work with no production history. tinyurl.com/bdf4jpwz

Whiskies of the World @ Intercontinental Chicago, 505 N Michigan Ave, 6pm-9:30pm
WHAT: Sample premier whiskies from around the globe!
SO WHAT: This traveling whiskey exhibition brings together more than 100 spirits for whiskey enthusiasts to sip throughout the night. Walk around the event with your souvenir glass and try some free flowing familiar and brand new spirits! There are also master classes avaialble to get an even deeper look into the world of whisky/whiskey!
NOW WHAT: General admission tickets are $125 while VIP admission is $175 and gets you 45min early access (6pm).

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4 & 5 (and Beyond)

Chicago Humanities: New Talks and Video Archives @ Various Locations & Chicago Humanities Festival YouTube channel, your favorite browser or YouTube app, any time you want some inspiration, All Ages
WHAT: Interesting conversations with interesting people!
SO WHAT: Chicago Humanities Festival always brings some of the best ideas to the surface with entertaining programming that captures your imagination. Be on the lookout for updates to the current season as their website is constantly updated with new talks.  Here is a taste of what's coming up!

NOW WHAT: Head over to take a look at their past events here! You should also sign up for their email list to get updates on upcoming talks in 2023

THE WHOLE CURATED WEEKEND & BEYOND

Weekend Shows @ Lincoln Hall & Schubas, 2424 N Lincoln Ave & 3159 N Southport Ave, various times, 18+
WHAT: A full weekend of amazing shows at Schubas and Lincoln Hall!
SO WHAT: Lincoln Hall and Schubas are some of our favorite venues in the city and they always have something great going on. Check out what's going this weekend at these great venues

NOW WHAT: Head out to Schubas & Lincoln Hall and enjoy this great lineup of shows!

ChiTown Movies @ Pilsen Neighborhood, 2343 S. Throop St, Various Times, All Ages
WHAT: An old school experience for the modern age
SO WHAT: Take a trip back in time and head out to a drive-in movie with ChiTown Movies. Ever since the pandemic started and shut down traditional movie screening, a few pop-up drive-ins have arrived and ChiTown Movies has persevered, offering up modern movies in this retro setting. Check out their lineup below for showings this weekend and in the future!

NOW WHAT: Tickets are $33 per car for these movies, so bring the family for a safe movie watching experience

Movies on the Big Screen and Home @ Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport Ave and at your home, any time you want to watch a movie
WHAT: A great way to support a great local theater
SO WHAT: The Music Box Theatre is ready to fill that art house need in you with some excellent movies including Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, Cooley High, and more! But if you want to watch some first-run movies at home, you can still watch great movies online! The theater's sister company, Music Box Films, offers a wide range of films available to stream any time via The Music Box Direct series! There are also tons of select titles available on their new platform!
NOW WHAT: Digital subscription is $4.99 a month, $49.99 a year, in person screenings vary, so sit back and enjoy!

University of Chicago Folk Festival @ Your favorite spot in your home, All Ages
WHAT:A fantastic folk festival
SO WHAT: University of Chicago Folk Festival might have come and gone but their digital presence is still around, making sure the wonderful music reaches as many people as possible! You can check out the past few years of performances on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel any time you want! This past year's performers included Balfa Toujours, Donka & Nikolay Kolev, Juan Rivera, Henry Barnes & Conner Vlietstra, Po' Ramblin' Boys, Jerron Paxton; Tim Britton, John Williams and Katie Grennan!
NOW WHAT: Head over to their Facebook page and their YouTube channel and enjoy the show! We highly encourage you to donate to help support this fantastic folk festival!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K42ZUUBeHSY&t=3s

Masque of the Red Coronavirus! @ Black Button Eyes Productions, Any time on your computer or mobile device. For 18+.
WHAT: Written by Black Button Eyes Productions producing artistic director Ed Rutherford, this short satirical piece is available online free as a combined script-and-video experience.
SO WHAT: In addition to reading the play, you will see various Chicago artists act out portions of the script on video, recorded remotely. The event includes puppets, burlesque, original music, fire dancing and more in a brief, darkly comedic confection.
With the Red Coronavirus running rampant across the countryside and a vaccine still months away, what's a Prince to do? Lock himself in a secure bunker in an undisclosed location along with a cohort of his top donors, of course. To prevent him and his rich supporters from becoming bored, the Prince has also brought a few artists into the bunker to entertain the crowd. But as the hour grows later and the night grows weirder, it's clear that something else has also invaded the party.
NOW WHAT: Settle down watch this fun piece!

Julian Ramirez