Chicago Travel Blog

In November, city officials announced that the popular Chicago Gospel Music Festival was returning after a not so well thought out move of combining it into the general entertainment at the Taste of Chicago in 2011. Now more details regarding dates and locations have been released.

Instead of holding the festival in one central location in Grant Park as has been done in the past, the Chicago Gospel Music Festival will be branching out in 2012 to various locations on the city's South Side. Running from July 11-15, free entertainment will take place in different spots such as the city's Bronzeville neighborhood before spending the weekend at a former public housing site at 37th Street and South Martin Luther King Drive, which the city says will be transformed into a "Gospel Music haven."

More Chicago outdoor festivals

After seeing declining attendance numbers -- likely due in part to the axing of the annual fireworks and a lesser focus on attracting A-list entertainment -- the city of Chicago has taken back control of the annual Taste of Chicago from the Chicago Park District and has decided to cut what was once the nation's largest food festival from ten days down to five. Not only that, but the city is ending the tradition of having ToC run over the Fourth of July weekend and is moving it to later (and hotter) dates in July this year, and the festival will run from July 11 through July 15, 2012.

According to the Chicago Tribune, officials from the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events released a statement about the new truncated Taste, saying, "Taste will emphasize Chicago's status as a 'foodie' destination and feature classic Chicago favorites as well as offerings from Chicago's new and emerging culinary scene. This free admission festival will highlight entertainment such as cooking demonstrations from noted chefs, and local and national musical acts."

Riding Chicago public transportation is an effective means of getting around town, but let's face it -- it's often a pretty drab affair.

But that's not the case for select dates between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when the Holiday Train takes to the rails of the Chicago Transit Authority. The six car train has its halls decked to the brim with lights, bows, wrapping paper, candy cane hand poles, and holiday songs playing over the intercom system. Even Santa Claus makes an appearance, riding on an open flatcar with reindeer and Christmas trees.

Best of all, the Holiday Train goes along the same lines as normal trains, and simply costs the normal CTA rate -- so not only can you muster up some Christmas cheer, you can also get to where you need to go.

The full detailed schedule of the CTA Holiday Train is available online.

While Chicago's O'Hare airport is the third busiest airport in the world, it still struggles with flight delays and other problems, and it's often a dreaded departure and arrival point. In fact, the Daily Beast recently named it the worst airport in America.

Using statistics from the Airports Council International, the site analyzed the percentage of on-time arrivals and departures, average security wait time during peak travel hours, average percentage of on-time departures on holidays, and airport comfort and amenities. After crunching the numbers, O'Hare made the top of the dubious list, with only 67.6% of on-time arrivals, 70.3% of on-time departures, and a measly 639 out of 1000 for its amenities score. Coming in second was Newark Liberty International, which handles only half the total passengers that O'Hare does in a single year.

Travelers to Chicago might want to consider the alternative, the Midway International airport, but it didn't do much better -- it comes in at number 7 on the list.

Popular Disney Channel stars China Anne McClain (A.N.T. Farm) and Bridgit Mendler (Good Luck Charlie) are making an appearance at the 2011 Magnficient Mile Lights Festival parade this Saturday, November 19.

McClain will be performing at 1:00 p.m. at Pioneer Court, located in the shadow of the Tribune Tower at 401 N. Michigan Avenue (just look for the giant Marilyn Monroe), along with "Next Big Thing" contestant and Chicago native Shealeigh and McClain's sisters, Lauryn and Sierra. Opening at noon will be Jake from Jake and the Never Land Pirates and the Never Land Pirate Band. All of them will be riding floats during the parade as well.

While Bridgit Mendler is not performing, she will be riding a float as well along with two her co-stars from the Disney movie Lemonade Mouth, Adam Hicks and Hayley Kiyoko. The trio will also be appearing at a meet-and-greet Sunday at Navy Pier at 11:00 a.m.

Get more information by reading my Magnificent Mile Lights Festival Parade profile.

The demise of the Chicago Gospel Festival appears to have been short lived.

The city had canceled the popular festival for 2011, choosing instead to roll it into Taste of Chicago, giving it a mere one day of gospel themed music at various stages at the food extravaganza. Fans of the Gospel Festival lamented the change, with one commenter saying that the Taste was "not a good atmosphere for a gospel celebration."

Chicago officials must have heard the feedback, as Cultural Commissioner Michelle T. Boone issued a statement on Thursday saying that the Chicago Gospel Festival will return as its own separate event in 2012. However, it will be moving from its former home in Grant Park to a location on the city's South Side, with the exact spot yet to be determined (an educated guess would be Washington Park).

More about outdoor Chicago festivals

After several years of controversy, it appears plans to move the Chicago Children's Museum from its current home at Navy Pier to Grant Park have been abandoned for now.

Many Chicago residents raised concern over putting the museum in the park, eating into green space, and violating the 1836 mandate that was intended to keep Chicago's lakefront "forever open, clear and free." But those residents can breathe a sigh of relief for now after new plans announced for Grant Park made no mention of the Chicago Children's Museum.

According to the Chicago Tribune, while Grant Park's Daley Bicentennial Plaza will be receiving some upgrades such as field house renovations, a new skating rinks, and possibly the relocation of its tennis courts, relocating the Children's Museum there doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Speaking about the museum move, Park District's director of planning and development, Gia Biagi, told a citizens advisory group, "Well, it's not coming to Grant Park."

But the museum still has its eye on the park, as museum spokeswoman Natalie Kreiger told the Trib, " I wouldn't say that the plan [to move to Grant Park] is dead. Daley Bi still remains a viable option. The truth is that we're just focusing most of our efforts on Navy Pier right now."

Taste of Chicago, the city's largest festival, has already pared back the music portion by scaling back on the number of national acts performing. Now the Chicago Park District, which took over control of Taste from the city last year, is looking to possibly shorten the number of days the festival is held as well.

According to the Chicago Tribune, days are on the chopping block as one of the options being proposed to reign in costs, and to make Taste "economically sustainable." Attendance was down by over 300,000 people last year, the lowest numbers in 25 years. Of course, I would argue that attendance is down namely because of the scaling back -- starting with the elimination of the July 3 fireworks in 2010, which were estimated to draw over a million people to the Taste in one day.

And those elements don't seem to be coming back any time soon -- Cultural Affairs spokeswoman Karen Vaughan told the Trib that the focus of Taste of Chicago 2012 "will stay on the food."

City officials are making some pretty big changes to the annual Chicago Gay Pride Parade for next year, altering the parade route and changing the start time in order to help better manage the massive crowds and curb public drinking.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that instead of the parade looping through the East Lakeview neighborhood known as "Boys Town" due to its plethora of LGBT bars and nightclubs, the parade route will be stretched much farther north to Montrose Street. The parade will also step off from this northern point instead of the previously traditional spot of Belmont and Halsted. The parade will still end in a celebration at Diversey Avenue and Cannon Drive in Lincoln Park.

The city has also shifted the start time from noon to 10 a.m., thinking that the earlier time will mean more spectators will opt for drinking orange juice and coffee, staving off the alcohol soaked party the parade route usually becomes. Parade coordinator Richard Pfeiffer was quoted as saying, "Unless you're a hard-core drinker, most people don't drink at 10 o'clock in the morning."

Alderman Tom Tunney, who's district contains the parade route, told the Sun-Times that he felt the parade had "outgrown" the neighborhood and that there was "a real concern for public safety" due to the increase in attendance that he attributes to an increased tolerance of the LGBT community.

Tunney added, "To accommodate that increase, we needed to make changes to help make it a safer event."

Read more about next year's parade in my Chicago Gay Pride Parade profile.

Photo by Steve Stearns

Radisson is expanding its upscale Blu collection of hotels into the United States, to try and purge Americans' view of Radissons as boring airport hotels. The Radisson Blu Aqua opens on November 1st in one of Chicago's newest skyscrapers, Aqua, an 86 story tower that's gained buzz from its inventive use of concrete balconies to give the building an undulating, almost liquid look. The new contemporary hotel breaks the mold of uniform room design, and will feature two distinct styles of rooms for guests to choose from -- either a rich, "clubby" look, or a more lighter color scheme room with hardwood floors (great for hotel guests skeeved out by hotel carpets). The Radisson Blu Aqua also takes advantage of the building's outdoor "green roof" at the top of its base on the 8th floor, with the inclusion of gardens, pools, fire pits and a running trail.

Find out more by reading my Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago profile.