AUGUST
Saturday 29
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Did you know that our Greek Town–said to have been the nation’s largest in its heyday–lays claim to inventing both the soda fountain and the ice cream sundae? The Greek Town Association says that by 1920 the ethnic enclave included as many as 10,000 businesses–until the Eisenhower and the University of Illinois effectively nuked the community. This heritage will be celebrated from noon to midnight today and tomorrow at the free Greek Town Summer Festival, on South Halsted between Monroe and Van Buren. Highlights include grape stomping, matchmaking, fortune-telling booths, and of course lots of food. Call 368-8697 for more.
“It’s like taking a one-day pleasure jaunt to the exotic Orient without the jet lag,” contend the organizers of Argyle Fest, the annual Uptown Chinatown street fair. More than a dozen restaurants of Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines, along with various of the area’s gift and food shops, will push their wares from 11 to 8 today on Argyle between Broadway and Sheridan. Admission is free. Call 728-1030 for more.
SEPTEMBER
With three days of free jazz in Grant Park looming this weekend, the 14th annual Jazz Festival Club Tour starts the celebration tonight, with buses making the rounds between ten participating clubs from 6:30 on. Highlights include the Ira Sullivan Quartet with Willie Pickens at Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase (636 S. Michigan), the Brad Goode Quintet at the Green Mill (4802 N. Broadway), and the Wallace Burton Quintet and the Marshall Vente Trio at Andy’s (11 E. Hubbard). Five bucks gets you the bus rides, which you can pick up at any venue on the tour, and admission to any and every club; call the sponsoring Jazz Institute of Chicago at 427-3300 or 427-1676 for more.
