It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, aka my favorite time of the year! I love the warmth and coziness of Christmastime, it just makes me feel so content and genuinely thankful. Christmas is my favorite holiday (although I LOVE a good Thanksgiving!), and I get to spend it every year with my family in Milan, Italy.
There is only one downside to that: I don’t ever get to spend it in Chicago. The city is magical around Christmas, which is why I always get so upset when I have to leave it! (it’s okay though, Milan is just as beautiful!). However, I really only leave to Italy a few days before the holidays, therefore I do get to experience the magic of a festive Chicago for a full couple of weeks! I have gathered here for you a few of the BEST Christmas celebrations around the city that you won’t want to miss this year:
Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
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Christmas starts November 17. No, I’m not crazy! To me, we officially enter the Christmas season when we light up the Christmas tree in Millennium Park. And that, my friends, is happening November 17, along with a ton of other events throughout the city!
The 104th Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will begin promptly at 6 p.m. with a performance by cast members from “A Christmas Carol” – which is opening at the Goodman Theatre November 18. The tree will then be lit up, and it will shine bright like a diamond through Jan. 6, 2018.
But that’s not the only tree that will be ~LIT~ this November: in fact, the Park at Wrigley is having their own Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 28! All the parks are getting into the holiday spirit.
Tree-Lighting Parade
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The holiday season in Chicago wouldn’t be the same without the Tree-Lighting parade on Michigan Avenue. The event is preceded by a full set of holiday activities on the Magnificent Mile, and then culminates with a parade starting at Oak Street, heading south on Michigan Avenue to Wacker Drive. The parade will start at 5.30pm on Saturday, November 18, and more than a million festive lights will be lit up on the Mag Mile throughout the event. The festival will end with a fireworks show over the Chicago River. I’ve been to this event almost every year and I still enjoy it so much! It’s never dull. Find the full event schedule here.
Ice skating
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Beginning of the holiday season = beginning of the ice skating season! I am so excited for all of the public ice skating rinks to finally open again, that’s pretty much the only positive thing about winter and the cold!
The ice skating rink at Millennium Park and the one in Maggie Daley Park will both open on Friday, November 17 at noon, but right before then, at 11am, there will be a free, special performance at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink (Millennium Park), featuring skaters from Ice Reach and Cirque du Soleil. The cast from Cirque du Soleil’s newest production, “Crystal—A breakthrough ice experience” (which is in Chicago this weekend) will perform a grand finale.
After the performance, both rinks will officially be open to the public and should remain open until March 4, 2018. So much skating time! Admission is free, skate rental is $12-$14.
The Park at Wrigley will also have their own ice skating rink this year, which will open on November 24. Admission is $5 and Skate rental is $10.
Christkindlmarket
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Christkindlmarket is probably my favorite Christmas attraction out of all of them. I nearly lost it when I learned that this year, they are setting up a location at the Park at Wrigley – so close to where I live!
If you don’t know what it is, well, think “cutest possible replica of an alpine/German Christmas market”. That’s basically what it is, and it’s awesome!
There will be three locations this year: as I mentioned, one will be the Park at Wrigley, but there will also be one in Naperville, IL. However, their main location will remain Daley Plaza downtown. The markets open – you guessed it – on November 17 (except for the Park at Wrigley one, which opens a week later), and will remain open until Christmas Eve! (December 31st for the Park at Wrigley!)
ZooLights
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The Lincoln Park Zoo is known to offer many events for every festivity throughout the year. I’m personally a big fan of Fall Fest! However, I have heard from many of my friends that ZooLights is actually their best event. For the month before Christmas, the entire Zoo is decorated with 30,000 festive and colorful lights – IT’S LIT! – that will later all star in a light show set to holiday tunes. There are also a ton of activities to participate in, such as crafting, visiting Santa, shopping for gifts, etc. I’ve never been to the Zoo during ZooLights and I’m so psyched to go for the first time this year! ZooLights also opens on November 17, but that will be a Members Only Night: us peasants will have to wait until November 24, but it’ll be worth it!
Bonus Activity: The Nutcracker
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I interned for The Joffrey Ballet last year, and I know how much work goes behind the Nutcracker: therefore, I feel pretty much obliged to telling you all to check it out. It is an insanely good and magical production that will immediately put you into the holiday spirit. The dancers are incredibly talented. Everything is just amazing. Can you tell I miss working at the Joffrey? Opens December 1. Get tickets here.
These are the six Christmas events in Chicago that I can’t wait to check out! Did I miss any good ones? Please let me know in the comments below, I love getting into the holiday spirit!