Along with the usual free admission to Lincoln Park Zoo,Lincoln Park Zoo Lights 2011 gives you the opportunity to experience many additional activities:

Lincoln Park Zoo Lights Santa’s Safari
Visitors can share their holiday wishes with Santa in the wildest setting in town. This is a perfect spot to take your holiday photos surrounded by life-like gorillas, flamingos, crocodiles and more.

Lincoln Park Zoo Lights Ice Carving
Watch our artists transform blocks of ice into animals, city skylines and more!

For more information about Lincoln Park Zoo Lights click here to visit the official website.

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Route information is not currently available – schedules are distributed when you get your tickets – but judging from previous years, TBOX 2011 will be a wild time. Tickets are $30 per person and that fee get you into the bars with entry limited to TBOX participants.

If you are looking for a wild time you can get your tickets for The Twelve Bars of Xmas at the official TBOX Chicago website.

TBOX 2011 is going to be One Big Amusement Park, filled with all the thrills, spills, and chills you can handle! Park Gates will Open at 8AM on December 10th, and the fun won’t stop until closing time! In Keeping with Our Theme, all the Royal Court Members this year will be Rides, and you’ll collect stickers from them saying “I Rode #1,2,3,4…” The teams you split up into will be different Lands in the TBOX 2011 Amusement Park, and if you thought last year was fun, this year’s TBOX is going to make last year’s TBOX look like a Tupperware party!

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This year’s Thanksgiving Parade runs a seemingly short route, starting at Congress and State Street (500 S. State Street) and moving north along State Street to Randolph (150 N. State Street). The parade will feature floats, marching bands, and of course helium balloons. Balloons from past years have included Kermit and Grover from The Muppets, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Thanksgiving Turkey and many other pop culture favorites.

The 2011 Chicago Thanksgiving Parade will be broadcast live on local television and syndicated nationally. There’s always something about watching a parade, broadcast from another city, on Thanksgiving morning that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

Chicago’s 2011 Thanksgiving Day Parade is a tradition for many people in Chicago, drawing between 350,000 and 400,000 spectators annually, making it one of the larger Thanksgiving parades in the country. The parade goes one rain or shine, so be sure to get there early if you want to get a front seat and to get a jumpstart on the holiday shopping season.

Arrive early to take in Chicago’s Kirstkindlmarkt 2011, then the Tree Lighting Partyy starts at 4:30pm with live music. The lighting of the Chicago Christmas Tree happens at 5:00. Chicago’s Christmas Tree will be aprox 90 feet tall and will be created by combining more than 130 smaller trees. With hundreds of ornaments and thousands of lights, the Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting 2011 event is a great event for families.

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Christkindlmarket (Kringle Market) 2011 is open Nov 23-Dec 24, 2011;
Sun-Thur 11am–8pm; Fri-Sat 11am 9pm;
(Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve: 11am-4pm).

Admission is Free.

For the 16th year in a row, Daley Plaza will be hosting Chicago Christkindlmarket 2011 (aka Kringle Market), a traditional German Christmas Market, from November 23rd to December 24th, 2011. Christkindlmarket 2011 will feature handmade gifts including ornaments, candles, woodcarvings, cuckoo-clocks, European chocolates, beer steins, toys, glass blown items and toys.

Featuring more than 50 vendors, Chicago Christkindlmarket 2011 will include both gift and food vendors. Traditional treats include hot cider, hot chocolate and spiced wine – with many German Christmas Market favorites such as bratwurst, schnitzel, strudel, potato pancakes and more. Kringle Market has been a holiday tradition in Chicago for 16 years and is a great experience for anyone wanting to get out in the city during the season.

Christkindlmarket (Kringle Market) 2011 also provides a great opportunity to view Chicago’s 2011 Christmas Tree and Santa Claus at Daley Plaza.

Christkindlmarket 2011

See, taste and hear the holiday cheer. Experience a traditional Christkindlemarket (Kringle Market) 2011, based on the century old markets in Germany, in the heart of downtown Chicago. Christkindlemart (Kringle Market) 2011 features German and International vendors who display hand crafted ornaments, toys and unique gifts as well as traditional German foods, sweets and beverages.

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Wednesday, June 29: Celtic Music Day – Main Stage
Natalie MacMaster
Liz Carroll, John Doyle and John Williams
Begins at 5 p.m.

Wednesday, June 29: Celtic Music Day – Lotto Stage
12 – 1 p.m. Celtic Dancing
1:20 – 2:20 p.m. Glen Ayre
2:40 – 3:40 p.m. Celtic Dancing
4 – 5 p.m. Kevin Flynn & The Avondale Ramblers
5:20 – 6:20 p.m. Baal Tinne
6:40 – 8 p.m. Bua

Sunday, June 26, 2011: Gospel Music Day
Donald Lawrence
Reverend Milton Brunson’s Thompson Community Singers
Begins at 3:30 p.m.
Media support provided by Inspiration 1390AM.

Sunday, June 26, 2011: Gospel Music Day
12 – 1 p.m. Mahalia Jackson Centennial Salute featuring Queenie Lennox & others
1:20 – 2:20 p.m. The Brown Sisters
2:40 – 3:40 p.m. Dr. Abertina Walker Tribute (with special guests)
4 – 5 p.m. The Nichols Sisters
5:20 – 6:20 p.m. Chicago’s Next featuring various artists
6:40 – 8 p.m. Chicago American Gospel Quartet Chapter (featuring various artists)

Check out more Chicago Summer Events.

Check the Taste of Chicago 2010 page for more information.

The 2011 Chicago Air Show will take place on Saturday & Sunday, August 20 & 21, 2011.

2011 Chicago Air Show
Dates: August 20 & 21, 2011
Time: 10am-3pm
Place: North Ave Beach
Headliners: U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds & U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights

There are no specific times for any particular performers. If there is a specific performance you want to see, there is no guarantee about when that performance will occur.

Chicago holds claim to the most Sister Cities in the world. Chicago Sister Cities International hosts the 2011 Chicago Sister Cities Festival and runs programs designed to create opportunities with Chicago’s Sister Cities. For more information, visit the official Chicago Sister Cities website.

Sister Cities Festival

The Chicago Sister Cities International Program, under the auspices of the Department of Cultural Affairs, provides leadership to develop, manage and coordinate comprehensive exchanges with Chicago’s 27 international Sister Cities. It aims to increase international trade, economic development, promote exchanges of culture, education, medicine, environment, technology & social service opportunities with its sister cities for the benefit of the City of Chicago, its residents and businesses.