Street Fests: All Exciting at First

To paraphrase the late-great Mitch Hedburg, “Street festivals are like pancakes; all exciting at first, but by the end you’re fucking sick of ‘em.”



It’s true. You see all these festival listings lining up for every weekend deep into August, and you think about how great it will be to hang around outside. You look forward to not paying the “optional” cover charge, grabbing a drink, eating something off of a cob or a stick and just CHILLING. It never ends up that way. After a few, you come to realize that beer lines (and beer tickets) suck, hoards of people suck, and usually the bands suck.

So, here’s some fests coming up that I would ACTUALLY recommend going to:

• Incredibly awesome bands at the Do-Division Street Fest and Sidewalk Sale (May 31 - June 1)
• Diverse, Swedish-themed Andersonville Midsommarfest (June 14,15)
• Great music and hilarious people-watching at Wicker Park Fest 2008 (July 26,27)
• Weird-but-tasty combo of the Guinness Oyster Fest (September 6)
• DIY renaissance going on at the Renegade Craft Fair (September 13,14)
• The 12th annual, legendary Hideout Block Party (September 20,21)

-Brian Howe Battle