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Chicagoland offers travelers unique events year-round! Seasonal happenings, top-notch concert and theatre performances, exhibitions, festivals, antique and flea markets and thrilling sporting events are yours to discover in and around Chicago.

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Chicago Botanic Garden's Model Railroad Garden: Landmarks of America Now - October 26, 2008 A perennial favorite, the Model Railroad Garden delights visitors of all ages with the sights and sounds of garden-scale trains traversing bridges and trestles, miniature scenes of America's best-loved landmarks and beautiful gardens planted to scale. The Garden's 7,500 square foot 2008 exhibition features evening hours and new attractions. $3 - $5. Type: Visual Arts.	Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 847-835-5440
Chicago Botanic Garden's "Great Chef Series" Now - October 5, 2008 More than 40 of the Chicago area¹s best chefs ­ including several new to the series ­ demonstrate creative ways to use garden-fresh produce. Visitors are educated and inspired to grow, cook with and eat a variety of seasonal,fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits. Demonstrations are at 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM. Barilla is the presenting sponsor of the Garden Chef Series. Free (parking fees apply). Type: Visual Arts.	Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 847-835-5440
Archtop Brownie & Company Now - October 1, 2008 Music meets Art www.lancestunes.com Show at 8pm. $15 in advance $20 at the door. Type: Performing Arts.	Skokie Theatre 7924 N. Lincoln Ave. Skokie, IL 847-677-7761
"Nixon's Nixon" at Writers' Theatre Now - October 12, 2008 Just in time for the elections, we bring back our critically acclaimed, award-winning production of Nixon's Nixon. This box office record-breaking production returns to our most intimate theatre for a limited engagement. Artistic Director Michael Halberstam will once again direct William Brown and Larry Yando as they reprise their tour-de-force performances as Kissinger and Nixon in this thrilling, hilarious and brilliantly imagined story of what might have happened in the Lincoln sitting room the night before Nixon resigned. Type: Performing Arts.	Writer's Theatre 664 Vernon Avenue Glencoe, IL 60022 (847) 242-6000
Jim Schwall September 6, 2008 - September 6, 2008 Jim Schwall, Guitar, Mandolin, singer-songwriter - is the co-leader of the Siegel-Schwall Band, "one of the best acts in America", - Billboard Magazine. The Boston Globe has called Mr. Schwall "undoubtedly the best electric guitarist in the country." Type: Performing Arts.	Skokie Theatre 7924 N. Lincoln Ave. Skokie, IL 847-677-7761
Westfield Old Orchard's KidOOdles Kids Club! September 6, 2008 - September 6, 2008 Apples to Apples. A tasty way to spend the day. Free. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Westfield Old Orchard Old Orchard Road off I-94 Skokie, IL 847-673-6800
Evanston Along the Lake Walking Tour September 7, 2008 - September 7, 2008 This walk through the Evanston Lakeshore Historic District begins with a look at churches designed in Romanesque, Neoclassical, and Georgian styles, with a peek inside an 1875 Victorian Gothic sanctuary. Residential styles include Italianate, Queen Anne, Shingle, Chateauesque, Tudor, Prairie, and Modern. $ 10.00 Seniors and Students $ 5.00.. Type: Tours.	Raymond Park Hinman Ave. and Lake St Evanston, IL 312-922-3432
Church Basement Ladies September 10, 2008 - September 27, 2008 "Church Basement Ladies" Are COOKIN' in Skokie! Inspired by the books of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, including the best-seller "Growing Up Lutheran." Script by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke. Music & Lyrics by Drew Jansen. It's true that girls just want to have fun, and after over 600 sold out performances at the Plymouth Playhouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the "Ladies" are taking it to the road. $44 adults $41 seniors. Type: Performing Arts.	North Shore Center for the Performing Arts 9501 Skokie Blvd Skokie, IL 847-673-6300
"The U.N. Inspector" at Next Theatre September 12, 2008 - October 12, 2008 British director/writer David Farr's hilarious, freewheeling adaptation of Gogol's The Government Inspector thrilled London audiences in 2006, where its sharp satire skewered government fraud in a fictionalized former Soviet republic. To bring the comedy home, Next asked Victory Gardens Ensemble member James Sherman to craft a hero hailing from Chicago . Jim's creation, the washed-up real estate salesman Michael Fitzgerald Murphy, exploits his mistaken identity as the dreaded UN Inspector for all it's worth, revealing corruption, conspiracies and cover-ups at the highest levels of power. Starring Joe Dempsey as Murphy, Susan Hart and Bill McGough as the glamorous and greedy President and First Lady, and Joseph Wycoff as a bumbling member of the cabinet. Type: Performing Arts.	Noyes Cultural Arts Center Ste. 108 927 Noyes St. Evanston, IL 60201 (847) 475-1875
Barnyard Dance, Picnic Supper and Ice Cream Social September 13, 2008 - September 13, 2008 Pack up a picnic dinner and come to the farm! Enjoy a good old-fashioned ice cream social, live music, and old fashioned square dancing. Discover the connections between producer and consumer and the past to the present. Interactive exhibits, Greenhouse, Milking Parlor, General Store and Museum Store. Event runs 4:00-8:00pm. Live music begins at 5pm. $6 a person Children under 2 are free. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Wagner Farm 1510 Wagner Rd. Glenview, IL 847-657-1506
Evanston Along the Lake Architecture Walking Tour September 13, 2008 - September 13, 2008 Voted suburbia's best downtown by Chicago Tribune readers, Evanston has main-street charm but is becoming a skyscraper city, a battleground between developers and preservationists. This tour explores the old and new in this thriving retail, restaurant, office and residential center. Well-known Chicago architects and Evanston's own designers contributed to its mix of styles, including prairie revival, Victorian, Deco, international, Tudor and French. Perhaps the ultimate college town, Evanston was established in the shadow of Chicago by Northwestern University over 150 years ago, and now sometimes finds itself in conflict with its creator over urban expansion and financing. Downtown Evanston's vitality, growth and heritage mirror the successes and problems of Chicago itself. $10. Type: Tours.	Evanston Public Library Church St. between Orrington and Chicago Ave. Evanston, IL (312) 922-3432
Northwestern University Football vs. Southern Illinois September 13, 2008 - September 13, 2008 The Northwestern Wildcats offer some of the best Division 1 college sports action in the Midwest, featuring 11 teams competing in the Big Ten Conference. Prices Vary. Type: Sports.	Ryan Field 1501 Central St. Evanston, IL 847-491-2287
Wilmette Festival of Fine Arts September 13, 2008 - September 14, 2008 This optimum aesthetic opportunity in an outdoor fine art/fine craft exhibit features over 100 local, national and international artists. Artwork ranges from ceramic, glass and paintings to fit almost any budget. There is achildren's art activity center. Free. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Metra Station East of Green Bay Rd. at Central Ave. Wilmette, IL 847-256-2080
"Vaudeville and Vixens" at the Piccolo Theatre September 14, 2008 - October 4, 2008 Come and see what Piccolo Theatre is all about with this series of comedy amd music acts in a cabaret-club setting. Add one part Chaplin two parts burlesque shake and serve. Type: Performing Arts.	Piccolo Theatre 600 Main Street Evanston, IL 60202 (847) 424-0089
"Picnic" at Writers' Theatre September 16, 2008 - November 16, 2008 This American classic is staged by Chicago's own David Cromer whose previous work for Writers' Theatre includes The Price and Booth and whose highly acclaimed production of The Adding Machine is enjoying a successful run in New York. When a charismatic young drifter arrives in a small Kansas town on the eve of a Labor Day picnic, the simmering repressions of its residents come rapidly to a boil. Frequently hilarious and profoundly moving, Inge's masterpiece chronicles the hopes and despairs that lie between the realization of adulthood and the eternal optimism of youth. Type: Performing Arts.	Writer's Theatre 325 Tudor Court Glencoe, IL 60022 (847) 242-6000
"Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde" at Northlight Theatre September 17, 2008 - October 26, 2008 What happened the night that Henry Jekyll died? Against the backdrop of Victorian London, the respected doctor has begun to display alarmingly erratic behavior toward his friends. At the same time, a mysterious figure haunts the city's streets under the cloak of the London fog. Nationally renowned playwright Jeffrey Hatcher brings Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale to life, revealing the many faces of Edward Hyde in this fiendishly clever and theatrically innovative new adaptation. Prices Vary. Type: Performing Arts.	North Shore Center for Performing Arts 9501 Skokie Blvd. Skokie, IL (847) 673-6300
A Letter from Japan: The Photographs of John Swope September 19, 2008 - November 30, 2008 A Letter from Japan: The Photographs of John Swope is the first in-depth presentation of vintage prints from the late Los Angeles photographer's 1945 journey through post-war Japan. Shot during a three-and-a-half-week period, Swope's photographs vividly document the impact of World War II on the local population of Japan as well as on the Allied soldiers and prisoners of war. The exhibition also include selected highlights from Swope's career as a renowned Hollywood photographer from the 1930s through 1970s. Free. Type: Visual Arts.	Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art 40 Arts Circle Drive Evanston, IL 847-491-4000
Samuel Bak September 19, 2008 - November 30, 2008 This exhibition highlights drawings by Samuel Bak, a contemporary artist whose work has continually addressed the tragedies of the Holocaust through personal metaphors. Reinterpreting iconic themes from Western traditions of art and combining it with recurrent iconography, Bak inflects artistic tropes with his own experience as a child who suffered the tragedies of loss and deprivation during World War II. Bak effectively engages in a dialogue with artists whose work represented the ideals of Western humanism, such as Michelangelo and Dürer, in order to visualize displacement and disruption experienced by millions as a result of the war. Free. Type: Visual Arts.	Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art 40 Arts Circle Drive Evanston, IL 847-491-4000
Northwestern University Football vs. Ohio September 20, 2008 - September 20, 2008 The Northwestern Wildcats offer some of the best Division 1 college sports action in the Midwest, featuring 11 teams competing in the Big Ten Conference. Prices Vary. Type: Sports.	Ryan Field 1501 Central St. Evanston, IL 847-491-2287
North Shore Century Bike Tour September 21, 2008 - September 21, 2008 The 24rd annual North Shore Century is a bike tour of the North Shore's most luxurious residential neighborhoods... view unique architectural treasures on leafy streets... then open it up in the flat to rolling countryside between Chicago and Wisconsin. Free Music!Ê Homemade Goodies!Ê Bike Mechanics at All Rest Stops!Ê SAG Wagons along the Route!ÊWell-mapped and well-marked rides for biking enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. Trips of 8, 25, 50, 62 (a metric century) or 100 miles offered. $15-20. Type: Sports.	Dawes Park Sheridan Road at Church St. Evanston, IL 847-604-1225
Shermerfest September 21, 2008 - September 21, 2008 Shermerfest is a community tradition since 1979. Join us in September on the Village Green for activities, entertainment, an antique and collectible car show and a homemade soup lunch at the annual Shermerfest. Free. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Village Green Park 1776 Walters Avenue Northbrook, IL (847) 498-3404
"Pen" at the Apple Tree Theatre September 24, 2008 - October 19, 2008 Pen follows a Long Island family at a pivotal moment in their lives. Confined to a wheelchair, Helen and her son, Matt, are locked in a relationship where love, guilt, recriminations and the ever-present desire to make things right all share center stage. When it's time to apply to college, Helen tries to hold tightly to her son by influencing his enrollment in a nearby college, while her ex-husband Jerry tries to get the boy into USC, thinking that Matt needs to get some distance from his mother. The relationship between mother and son takes a mysterious turn, allowing the three of them to consider options that were up to now impossible. Pen is a sly, perceptive play about the deep bonds that hold a family together and the harsh truths that tear them apart. Type: Performing Arts.	Apple Tree Theatre 1850 Greenbay Rd, Suite 100 Highland Park, IL 60035 (847) 432-4335
Magdalena Abakanowicz September 26, 2008 - December 14, 2008 Magdalena Abakanowicz is one of the most potent voices in the art world today. Her original creations, based primarily on human and animal forms, express a spiritual and philosophical quest. Growing up in Poland in the 20th century, Abakanowicz overcame traumatic events in European history, personal challenges, and political oppression through dogged resourcefulness. Her art is informed by these experiences, and the theme of individuality within an anonymous multitude is repeated in her sculpture and drawings, expressing both vitality and mortality at the same time. Free. Type: Visual Arts.	Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art 40 Arts Circle Drive Evanston, IL 847-491-4000
Light Opera Work's Side by Side by Sondheim September 28, 2008 - November 2, 2008 Light Opera Work's presents Side by Side by Sondheim. Stephen Sondheim's shows are among the A-list in Broadway history- Follies, Company, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, Anyone Can Whistle and more. $24-39; 21 and under half price. Type: Performing Arts.	Second Stage 1420 Maple Evanston, IL 847-869-6300
Bulb Bazaar and Harvest Festival October 4, 2008 - October 5, 2008 Celebrate the season's bounty at the Harvest Festival and Bulb Bazaar. The Bulb Bazaar includes daffodils, tulips, and alliums, as well as specialty bulbs. The Harvest Festival features fresh produce and baked goods, roasted nuts, cut flowers, and handmade soaps. Chefs will demonstrate harvest time cooking. Visitors can guess the weight of a pumpkin, walk through a straw bale maze, and create leaf rubbings. Sat & Sun 10 AM to 4 PM. Free; $15 car parking fee.. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 847-835-5440
The Grove Folk Fest October 5, 2008 - October 5, 2008 Step back in time and learn about your local heritage. Enjoy continuous live folk music, square dancing, nature walks and pioneer craft demonstrations. Storytelling for children and adults throughout the grounds all day long. 11am-5pm. $4 for adults $1 for children 12 and under. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	The Grove 1421 Milwaukee Ave. Glenview, IL 847-299-6096
Build Your Own Scarecrow at Wagner Farm October 11, 2008 - October 11, 2008 Bring the kids and some old clothes and we'll provide a pumpkin head, the straw and the know-how to help you build your very own scarecrow! Fees vary according to the size of clothing you bring to stuff. Event runs from 1:00 - 4:00 pm. Free. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Wagner Farm 1510 Wagner Rd. Glenview, IL 847-657-1506
Evanston Along the Lake Architecture Walking Tour October 11, 2008 - October 11, 2008 Voted suburbia's best downtown by Chicago Tribune readers, Evanston has main-street charm but is becoming a skyscraper city, a battleground between developers and preservationists. This tour explores the old and new in this thriving retail, restaurant, office and residential center. Well-known Chicago architects and Evanston's own designers contributed to its mix of styles, including prairie revival, Victorian, Deco, international, Tudor and French. Perhaps the ultimate college town, Evanston was established in the shadow of Chicago by Northwestern University over 150 years ago, and now sometimes finds itself in conflict with its creator over urban expansion and financing. Downtown Evanston's vitality, growth and heritage mirror the successes and problems of Chicago itself. $10. Type: Tours.	Evanston Public Library Church St. between Orrington and Chicago Ave. Evanston, IL (312) 922-3432
Northwestern University Football vs. Michigan State October 11, 2008 - October 11, 2008 The Northwestern Wildcats offer some of the best Division 1 college sports action in the Midwest, featuring 11 teams competing in the Big Ten Conference. Prices Vary. Type: Sports.	Ryan Field 1501 Central St. Evanston, IL 847-491-2287
Corn Harvest Festival October 18, 2008 - October 18, 2008 Meet the farm animals and experience harvest time from an earlier era with horse-drawn wagon rides, farm tours, corn picking by hand, apple pressing and participation in a variety of farm activities. Harvest food treats will be available for purchase. Even hours are from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. $3 per person Children under 2 years are free.. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Wagner Farm 1510 Wagner Rd. Glenview, IL 847-657-1506
Northwestern University Football vs. Purdue October 18, 2008 - October 18, 2008 The Northwestern Wildcats offer some of the best Division 1 college sports action in the Midwest, featuring 11 teams competing in the Big Ten Conference. The Wildcats will also be celebrating their Homecoming during the game! Prices Vary. Type: Sports.	Ryan Field 1501 Central St. Evanston, IL 847-491-2287
Chicago International Children's Film Festival October 23, 2008 - November 2, 2008 The CICFF is North America's largest and most celebrated film festival devoted to films for and by kids, and it's the only Academy®-qualifying children's film festival in the world! (That means our winners in the short film category can go on to compete for the Oscars®!) TBA. Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Wilmette Theatre 1122 Central Ave. Wilmette, IL (847) 251-7424
Will Rogers Show October 24, 2008 - October 26, 2008 Enjoy the Will Rogers Show at the Skokie Theatre. Shows at 8pm and at 2pm (on the 26th). $15-20. Type: Performing Arts.	Skokie Theatre 7924 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 847-677-7761
Dudu Fisher "Jerusalem" October 25, 2008 - October 25, 2008 The star of Broadway's Les Miserables returns to Centre East with his biggest show yet- "Jerusalem", a multi-media musical celebration of Isreal's 60th anniversary. Performance at 8 p.m. $72. Type: Performing Arts.	North Shore Center for Performing Arts 9501 Skokie Blvd. Skokie, IL 60077 (847) 673-6300
Trains, Tricks and Treats at Chicago Botanic Garden October 25, 2008 - October 26, 2008 Families are invited to come in costume and trick-or-treat for candies and prizes. Little ghost and goblins will discover figurines of trick-or-treaters on Main Street, bats and crawly creatures, a graveyard, etc., tucked among miniature scenes of America's best-loved landmarks and beautiful gardens planted to scale. $5 adults, $3 children 2-12 (parking fees apply). Type: Festivals/Fairs.	Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 847-835-5440
"Defending the Caveman" November 1, 2008 - November 1, 2008 The longest running solo play in Broadway history, "Defending the Caveman" has become a worldwide hit. With hysterical observations into contemporary feminism and masculine sensitivity, "Defending the Caveman mines the themes in relationships that go straight through the funny bone and into the heart. Performances at 5 and 8 p.m. Tickets $44. Type: Performing Arts.	North Shore Center for Performing Arts 9501 Skokie Blvd. Skokie, IL 60077 (847) 673-6300

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