Gospel Fest

What: Chicago Gospel Music Festival
Where: Millennium Park (Loop)
How Much: Free!
How to get there: Red line to Monroe

"Say, Thank you, Jesus for the CTA!" These were the first words I heard at the Gospel Music Festival. And it only got better from there. Prior to entering the first tent, I was handed a flyer by someone from the Church of God. If you can figure out what denomination these people are, please let me know because I don't get it. They look Amish but appear to believe in Calvinism. In any case, they handed me a flyer and I walked away, so it wasn't that bad.

The day could have gone badly, as it began with showers that threatened to last the whole day. In the hour it took to get downtown, however, the clouds parted and there was sun in Chicago. Bart and I arrived at the festival just after opening so the crowd was scarce. This didn't stop the infectious energy of the crowd who were there. We visited the youth choir tent first.
That is the St. James Ministries Youth Choir and they were awesome. If I were ever going to join a church (and if you know me you know the chances are slim) I would join a Southern Baptist church. the ENERGY! The pure JOY that these singers feel while they praise the Lord is truly inspiring to me. I feel passionately about a lot of things, but I can't say that my passion comes anywhere close to the absolute devotion some of these people feel, and the ecstasy it brings them to express it.

Then it was over to the main stage.
Again, scarce crowd but plenty of energy.
The singers were practicing for the first act, which didn't begin until 4 pm.
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The main stage and the second tent had adult acts. In the second tent, the Day Stage, I saw "Mind over Matter," a group of five very talented young men. Again, it was the energy of the crowd and the passion of the singers that really won me over. In this tent, I learned that people were "put on the earth to worship". I'm not even going to get into the logistics of that one.


These are views of the table set ups around the Bean for hungry fair-goers. Also, the Art Institute Lions have Blackhawks helmets on. I'm so glad the city is using its money to help people in need and not spending it frivolously on unnecessary accessories. Awesome.

I also hit the Do Division St. Festival today, more on that later as I really need to eat some dinner.

Lincoln Square Maifest

What: Maifest
Where: Lincoln Square
How Much: Free (to my great surprise, last year it was $5)
How to get there: Red line to Lawrence, #81 bus to Wilson

There is really only one thing Maifest is about- beer. And there are only two choices- imported or domestic. The domestic is Pabst Blue Ribbon, staple of dive bars everywhere, and the imported is the dangerously drinkable Hofbrau- Munchen.
And all the beers come in commemorative cups. The sizes are large, small, or boot. I opted for a small cup of the Hofbrau.
I am a teacher, and yesterday at school we had an incredibly exhausting walk-a-thon. Then after school I decided it was a good idea to go to the gym. In order to work off all this fair food I will be eating, I am doing a training program through NikePlus. Add those things together and drink a relatively large beer and I was buzzed 10 minutes into the fair. It became immediately apparent that food was going to be a necessity.

The food system here works on tickets. It's $10 for a book of 10 tickets. A sandwich will run you about 7 tickets, a pretzel 2, and a beer between 5 (for a small refill) and 12 (for a full boot). This works out well for them because it is almost impossible to perfectly use up all your tickets. I checked at the one food vendor and everything there was made out of pork. That left me very few options so I went with the safest- a soft pretzel. A stone-cold, kind of tough pretzel. I don't know about you but I expect my soft pretzels to be soft. It was satisfyingly stomach-filling and soaked up enough of my beer that I could function.

There was a band playing: the Polkaholics. And plenty of people
in Leiderhosen just hanging out. Also those dresses that push your boobs up
to your throat. (see woman in above beer ad)

There were also carnival games, complete with the prerequisite carnies. Mostly there is not a lot to do but stand around and get drunk, which can be a blast with the right people. Almost more fun than getting drunk yourself is watching other people get drunk. Last year I didn't even go, I just got a milkshake at the Potbelly's across the street and watched people stumble out at the end of the night.

The biggest problem with this fair is that alcohol sales end at 10. That means that when the fair closes around 11, drunk people flood the surrounding bars and restaurants. So if you had a hankering for some Garcia's, don't even think about it. It's also CRAZY crowded. Don't worry if you missed it last night, there are two more days of this festival. Here are some other things that happened:



I don't know either of these people but the guy with the hat had a sign that said prince someone or other. Also, that guy behind me is dancing with a feather. Not sure if that's a traditional form of German dance.

See you at noon at the Gospel Music Festival in Millennium Park and later at Do Division!!

In Other News

The love of my life, my dog Ollie, decided to chew on his foot Sunday night. When I picked him up at my parent's, he was having a three-legged day and was obviously in some pain. Bart (that handsome guy you keep seeing in pictures) brought him to the vet and they cleaned Ollie up and wrapped his foot. Bart warned them that Ollie would chew through that bandage in a hot second, but they insisted that they've had good luck with this new "chew resistant" bandage.

Can you guess what happened next? That's right, Ollie chewed that thing right off, savoring its bitter dog repellent flavor, and I found it in the hall on Wednesday morning. I'm not sure if the storm freaked him out (he spends thundery nights practically sitting on my face trying to get as close to me as possible) or if he just hates having this thing on.

It was too late to take the morning off, so I called in for the afternoon and rented a car to bring him to the vet. I love having a dog, and I love not having a car, but those two things together are sometimes hard to navigate. We got to the vet, they redid his bandage and I had to stand out in the hall with my fingers in my ears to keep from hearing him cry and crying myself. Well, I cried anyway. He got a cortisone shot to help with the itchiness and some new dog-specific allergy meds (until now he had been taking benedryl when his symptoms were the worst). AND he got a big giant hilarious cone that he can barely hold up. On his normal collar he slipped it right off, but I put it on a different one when we got home. It seems to work as he kept it on the whole time I was at work today. He seems more like himself.

I am not making him wear the cone when we are hanging out together and I can keep an eye on him. It just makes him look so pitiful! He can have the bandage taken off as early as Saturday or as late as Monday, and let's hope those little toes are healed.
This is where Ollie sits while I am blogging. That's my leg tucked up sitting crosslegged and the drawer on the desk.
Change of plans for festivals: Mayfest is still on for Friday night. I'll be at the Gospel music festival in Millennium Park right at noon on Saturday, and then at the Division Street Fest with Robin and Melissa by 2:00. June Jam is still on Sunday- probably not until afternoon as I'm going to look at an apartment in Ukrainian Village that morning. The apartment hunt has begun, so exciting! See you at the festivals!

What: The Belmont-Sheffield Music Festival
Where: LakeviewHow Much: free, $5 "suggested donation"
How to get there: Red line to Belmont

There was no need to google map this fair- it could be seen from the window of the El. As the first true street fair of the season, the Belmont- Sheffield Music Festival was packed. Sheffield was closed off from Belmont to School and a little in each direction on School street. Not much room for a full crowd who wanted to see the musicians plus a throng of people just looking to score some beer and food. Several times I resorted to my usual polite way of letting people know they need to move : "Excuse me, you stopped right in the middle of the street." It never ceases to amaze me how unaware people are about their own personal space and what is going on around them.

There were several jewelry and clothing vendors set up but not nearly as many as at your run of the mill Chicago fest.
The skirts that I am browsing here appear to be the next big thing. I saw no less than three stands selling this type of skirt. The women manning the booths were demonstrating the seemingly endless ways of wearing them. You can see that this mannequin has hers wrapped as a fashionable but potentially illegally short dress.
I'm a sucker for a good dress, so there is a good chance I will own one of these by the end of the summer if they keep cropping up at fairs.

Food was pretty typical- standard fair fare. I promised to try new things along this road, so I went for a Mediterranean veggie plate. You can see from my face that I was really excited to eat it. It consisted of a greek salad, yellow rice, grilled veggies (really just onions and peppers) and two delicious dolmatas. A dolmata is a pickled grape leaf wrapped around tasty stuffing. I thought they only came in meat versions, so imagine my delight to discover that you can also get them stuffed with... whatever the hell was inside them. It tasted like sour rice, in a good way. I had t get away from the crowds and onto the sidewalk to eat in peace. That's a Shocktop beer, in case you were wondering. MMMMMMM.

This guy was there. That is all.

Of course, this festival was about the music. I am using that term loosely. The bands that were booked were... fine. I'd really like to see some more local actual talent. This is a huge festival and there is a lot of opportunity for exposure to new and exciting acts. I do have to say the Too White Crew was satisfyingly hysterical. Not as hysterical as the little blonde woman beside me who knew literally EVERY word to EVERY mid eighties to late nineties song they played. At one point she looked over and apologized to me for yelling, and I told her not to worry, she was increasing my enjoyment tenfold.

A word to the wise, people. PLEASE do not bring your small child to these festivals and tote her around on your shoulders. There are lots of problems with this. First of all, no one behind you can see. Also, children's ears aren't built to withstand the kind of decibels blasting out at these concerts and you could be permanently damaging their hearing.

These are adult events for a reason. I am sure you love your kid as much as I love my dog, but please get a sitter.

In between acts there wasn't much to do but stand around and wait for the next band to take the stage, which could take some time given the set up and take down. My last act of the evening was to buy an $8 pina colada in a pineapple, which I realized as i was drinking it couldn't possibly contain alcohol because I hadn't been carded or wristbanded. So there went $8 worth of frosty coconut goodness. Here's a tip: the guys that cut the pineapples have a big bin full of pineapple pieces that didn't make a full round. If you ask nicely and show them your boobs they will give you a free cup of them. Just kidding, the asking should be enough.

You'll notice that the sign behind us says "Robots". Did you know there is a store in Chicago that only sells Robots? Now you do. It's on Sheffield between Belmont and School.

My parents decided to steal my dog for the weekend, so I'm off to pick him up and get some free grilled memorial day food. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Next week you will find me at: Mayfest in Lincoln Square on Friday night. This is a super cute neighborhood if you have never been there before, so check it out. On Saturday I am going to a Muslim fest with my friend Robin. I'll have to get back to you with details about that one. Then you'll find both of us at the Do-Division Street Festival. This stretch of Division street has vendors and a sidewalk sale as well as music. On Sunday, meet me at the June Jam. In between those, I am going to try to make it to the Gospel Music Festival and the 57th street art fair. Whew!