Mayor Lightfoot announces ‘Open Culture’ in-person summer, fall events indoors and outMiriam Di Nunzioon May 5, 2021 at 6:00 pm

The Pivot Arts Festival, Printers Row Lit Fest and the Old Town Art Fair are among some of the in-person, outdoor and indoor events scheduled for this summer and fall.

Summer in the city — there’s much to do and see — in person.

That was the message from Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday announcing “Open Culture,” the next phase in the Open Chicago initiative that will safely and ultimately fully reopen the city to in-person outdoor events and indoor venues.

The announcement of the in-person events was made in conjunction with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and Choose Chicago, the official tourism website for Chicago. The cultural affairs department is reviewing applications for outdoor festivals, street and art/craft fairs, and athletic events.

“Despite the unimaginable challenges that were thrown our way last year, we were still able to persist and come together to slow and stop the spread of this virus and put our city on the right path toward a safe reopening,” Mayor Lightfoot said in a statement. “Open Chicago — including Open Parks, Open Streets and now, Open Culture — is not only the direct result of these efforts, but it also serves as the latest step in our mission to fully restore a sense of normalcy within our city by bringing back and reimagining some of our favorite summer and fall-time activities.”

The Open Culture initiative highlighted many events, including some that had been announced previously:

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts at Symphony Center, beginning May 27

• “Planting and Maintaining a Perennial Garden: Shrouds by Faheem Majeed,” through July 24, Hyde Park Art Center

• Melvin Taylor & the Slack Band, May 7, Rosa’s Lounge

• Pivot Arts Festival: Reimagining Utopia – A Performance Tour: Live,” a multi-arts experience featuring world premieres in theatre, dance, video, music and puppetry, running May 21 – June 5

• The South Side Jazz Coalition – Jazzin’ On The Steps, May 23

• “Tuesdays on the Terrace,” Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, kicking off June 1

• Old Town Art Fair, June 12-13

• “The Obama Portraits, “ Art Institute of Chicago, June 18 – Aug. 15

• Pride in the Park, June 26- 27

• Grant Park Music Festival, Millennium Park, July 2-Aug. 21

• The Auditorium Theatre presents “ABT Across America” featuring American Ballet Theatre, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, July 8

• Southport Art Fair, July 10-11

• “Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change, and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40,” Smart Museum of Art July 15 – Dec. 19

• Chinatown Summer Fair, July 17-18

• Chicago Latin Jazz Festival, Jazz Institute of Chicago, July 23-24

• Printers Row Lit Fest, Sept. 11 – 12

• Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Sept. 25-26

• Lyric Opera of Chicago 2021/22 season, opening night featuring an all-new production of Verdi’s Macbeth, Sept. 25

• “Six,” Broadway In Chicago, at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, Oct. 5, 2021 – Jan. 30, 2022

• Court Theatre – “Othello,” Court Theatre, opening Oct. 21

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