Chicago, IL

In what has become a tradition that marks back-to-school time in Chicago, this Saturday, August 11, 2007, will be the 78th annual Bud Billiken Parade. The parade is the largest African-American parade in the country, named after Bud Billiken, the mythical protector of children.

In addition to typical parade participants, such as marching bands, drill teams, and floats, the event also features the Bud Billiken King and Queen.

In its 78 years of existence, the parade has hosted many celebrities, including:

Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Duke Ellington, Oprah Winfrey, Hop-Along Cassidy, Lena Horne, Spike Lee, L.L. Cool J, Bozo the Clown, Jack Brickhouse, Frank Thomas, Michael Jordan and President Harry S. Truman

This year’s parade will step-off at 10:00 a.m. at 39th Street and Martin Luther King Drive and head south to Washington Park. If you cannot make the festivities, the parade will be aired locally on both ABC and WGN, and will be shown nationwide on WGN.

For more information on the parade and its history, visit the official Bud Billiken Parade Site.

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This weekend, the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village will be host to a professional-level cycling competition called the Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove. There will be time trials for the big event on Saturday morning and races Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Illinois native Christian Vandevelde will be among the contestants. Vandevele formerly raced on the same team as Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France and finished 24th in the Tour de France in 2006.

In addition to the professional cycling events, there will be several other categories of races, as well as a a 100 meter big-wheel race for the kids.

For more information on the Tour of Elk Grove, including the full schedule and directions, click here. The event is free.

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This Friday and Saturday, Halsted Street will be host to the annual Northalsted Market Days. The event purports to be the “largest two-day street fair in the Midwest.”

From the Market Days officials:

The event spans six city blocks, has 17 entrance gates and features three music stages with more than 40 musical acts performing. Many of these artists will be top-name, national headliners, giving Market Days a reputation for some of the best live music in Chicago.

Market Days is also famous for its vast array of unique food, and arts and crafts vendors. Vendors from across the country apply for the privilege of showing and selling their unique wares to this huge, upscale crowd. On average, Northalsted Market Days® features 400 food, arts and crafts vendors.

Details:
Date: August 11th and 12th
Time: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Location: N. Halsted street, between Belmont and Addison in Chicago

For the full schedule, including all of the musical events check out think link.

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Today marks the opening of the three day music festival extravaganza that is Lollapalooza. It will take take place in Grant Park today through Sunday.

The extensive list of tremendous musical acts includes Pearl Jam, Snow Patrol, Amy Winehouse, The Roots, and Regina Spektor. For a full list of acts, including when they perform, visit the Lollapalooza Official Site.

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A fun summer activity to do with the family is to head to a Chicago Bandits game in Lisle, Illinois. The Chicago Bandits are a professional women’s softball team, which is part of the National Pro Fastpitch league. Although the team has had some trouble this season and currently finds itself in the unfamiliar position of being in sixth place, they still provide a great night of entertainment.

The team has a lot of great players, the most famous being Jennie Finch, who won the gold medal with the United States Olympic team in 2004.

Compared with other professional sports, the tickets to see the Chicago Bandits are very inexpensive and a family of four can attend a game for only $40 total. If you attend on a Sunday, kids 14 and under can get grandstand seats for only $5, when accompanied by their parents.

The Chicago Bandits games are played on the softball field of Benedictine University. For information and directions, click here. For ticket information, click here.

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This weekend is the Old St. Pat’s annual block party, which is described as the “world’s largest block party.” The event will take place Friday and Saturday as a fundraiser for Old St. Pat’s church, Chicago’s oldest public building.

Here is what the organizers have to say about the goal of this year’s event:

The Block Party proceeds support the on-going campus expansion. The campus expansion will ensure that the important outreach missions we share such as the Education Center, the Outreach Group, CARA Job Placement and Mentoring Program, Career Transitions Center of Chicago and Global Alliance for Africa will be able to call Old St. Pat’s home for decades to come.

In addition to great food and drink, there are several musical performances during the two day event. Here is the line-up:

Friday, July 20
WXRT Main Stage

* Michael McDermott (5:15–6:30)
* Back Door Slam (7:00–8:00)
* Rusted Root (8:30–10:30)

South Stage

* Weber Band (5:30–9:45)

Bud Light Beer Garden

* DJ music from Fig Media

Saturday, July 21
WXRT Main Stage

* Catchpenny (5:30–7:00)
* Jon McLaughlin (7:30–8:30)
* Big Head Todd and the Monsters (9:00–10:30)

South Stage

* Heligoats (5:30–6:30)
* Hello Dave (7:00–10:00)

Bud Light Beer Garden

* DJ music from Fig Media

The gates to the event are located at Madison and Des Plaines and open at 5:00 pm. both days. The event will run until approximately 10:30 p.m. each night. Cost is $35 in advance, $40 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online at the official website here.

This year’s Chicago Marathon, which will take place on Sunday October 7th, will mark the 30th anniversary of the event. For spectators, 83 days away probably sounds a bit early to be talking about an event. For those participating, like myself, it seems pretty close. So, to help my fellow runners, I want to share this video that I found on the Chicago Marathon website.

It was taken from a car who drove the entire length of the course prior to the start of last year’s event. It really gives you a great look at everything you will be passing throughout the 26.2 mile event and gives you a good representation of just how low you will be running. Although the video is of last year’s course, the course does not change all that much from year to year, so it should be pretty close. The 2007 official course map is not yet available. To check out this great video, click here.

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Are you looking for something fun to do with your kids this weekend? The Southside Community Outreach Coalition is hosting the K.I.D.S Zone Festival on Saturday from 10am-4pm. The festival will consist of games and entertainment for the family and community.

Here are the details:
Halsted Street from 6700-6800 S.
10am-4pm
773-874-4901

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Friday July 13th, the Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island in Chicago will be host to the “World’s Largest Pajama Party,” brought to you by Victoria’s Secret. A similar event last year in New York city drew 3,000 people. The event will feature DJ AM and a live performance from Fergie.

You can obtain a ticket at www.vspink.com. The doors open at 6:00 p.m and admission will be limited. For more information, visit Victoria’s Secret’s website.

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The annual L.A.T.E. Ride, hosted by Friends of the Park will take place this Saturday night/Sunday morning. The cycling event runs overnight and allows cyclists to enjoy the streets of Chicago in cooler weather, with less traffic. The events, which is for all ages, kicks off at midnight with a some pre-event activities, with the first wave of cyclists departing Buckingham fountain around 1:30 a.m. This is from the L.A.T.E. Ride site:

Enjoy a 25-mile ride through Chicago’s neighborhoods and along the lakefront. Cycle past skyscrapers, hear “Opaah!” in Greek Town, cruise through the North Side, wave to onlookers, and watch the sun rise over Lake Michigan. Plus, enjoy tons of snacks at the rest stop and breakfast back at Buckingham Fountain.

Last year’s event included over 9,000 participants. If you want to sign-up or for more information, visit the L.A.T.E. Ride site here.

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Due to the temporary closure of the trails at Busse Woods, you may be looking for an alternate place to run or cycle. This past Saturday, I tried out a stretch of the Illinois Prairie Path which is located about a twenty minute drive southwest of Busse Woods. The Prairie Path extends from Maywood out to the western suburb of Wheaton, before branching out to Elgin and Aurora. I only ran from Elmhurst to around Villa Park before I headed back.

The path is primarily crushed limestone, although there are some stretches that are paved. There are some drinking fountains along the path, although I advise you to bring water because they are not as plentiful as other places, such as the lakefront path.

My main problem was that because the path extends through several suburbs, the path often crosses a street. As a result, runners and cyclists have to stop and wait for the traffic before crossing. This can be annoying if you are trying to keep a set pace or keep the heart rate elevated. The traffic was not too bad, though, when I was out from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. The path got crowded around 8:00 a.m. or so and there are a few spots where passing is difficult (a couple of narrow bridges). Most of the people there understood proper path etiquette though, so it was not a problem.

If you are looking for a Busse Woods alternative and want to consider the Illinois Prairie Path, check out this link.

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Starting today, July 5th, northwest suburbanites of Chicago will be forced to find another place to run, walk or bicycle, because Busse Woods Forest Preserve (also called Ned Brown) will be closed for repairs. People can still use the preserve for fishing and other activities, as long as the don’t walk on the paved paths. The cracks in the asphalt are being filled and then the trails will be sealed with new asphalt.

The month of July seems like the worst time of the year to close the trail, but, according to the Cook County Forest Preserve District Superintendent Steve Bylina, the work has be done at a time when the temperature will be over 70 degrees.

If you are looking for an alternative, check out these links for a list of other places you can run or bicycle, until Busse Woods opens back up for business in August.

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