There are two things that most Chicagoans have in common. They complain about the cold, windy winters but stick around for the amazing summer. The sun finally appears sometime in May, the weather slowly (but surely) becomes warm, the lakefront bike path becomes congested, the "beaches" get packed full of volleyball nets and sunbathers, and there are neighborhood festivals EVERY weekend! So far, I have made it out to the taste of chicago (fried food and cheesecake...yum), lit fest (books as far as the eye can see), and wells street/old town art festival (local artists on display).
I may live in the big city now, but I grew up in a small town. While there wasn't really a plethora of festivities, every summer we looked forward to the Fireman's parade and week-long carnival. On parade night, my sister's and I (along with the rest of the neighborhood) would camp out on our front lawn waiting for firetrucks, high school bands, baton twirlers, famous folks like the 4-H farm queen and the town mayor, and various other prestigious organizations who made it into the parade to throw piles of jolly ranchers and tootsie rolls at us. Then we'd head over to the carnival for some fried crabcake goodness, carnival rides (heck yeah, Gravitron), dancing to the local country band, and another chance to win a goldfish at the carnival games.
While Chicago is no where near as small as my town, there are many little neighborhoods each with their own street festival throughout the summer. Each street festival is slightly unique. The neighborhood restaurants and bars set up tents serving food, small local bands play, sometimes there are local artists, but there is always ample people watching! There is just something about Chicago street festivals that I look forward to each summer and I can't help but think they remind me, even if just a little, of my carnival days.
0 comments:
Post a Comment