Compiled by Ashmar Mandou
Maxwell Street Market
This 100-year-old Chicago tradition opens for the season on March 1. The outdoor Maxwell Street Market is brimming with eclectic, international treasures waiting to be found every Sunday. Expect tools, clothing, collectibles, baked goods, produce and more — and come ready to bargain.
Flower Show
Feeling a bit of cabin fever? Get a taste of spring at Chicago’s free flower shows. Two lush conservatories are currently presenting their spring showcases. Lincoln Park Conservatory is displaying a rainbow of camellias, azaleas, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, hydrangea, and geraniums, and more. And the Garfield Park Conservatory show, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year, focuses on flowers that thrive at dawn and dusk.
World Music
Head to Old Town School of Folk Music for World Music Wednesdays, their weekly showcase of global music and dance. The lineup features both local and touring talent — a highlight this month is a performance by José del Tomate Group on March 11 as part of the Chicago Flamenco Festival. Most performances are free (with a $10 suggested donation), make a reservation online or over the phone to guarantee your spot.
Jurassic Quest
See towering animatronic dinosaurs, baby dino puppets and guys in scaly suits at this three-day Navy Pier exhibition, which brings more than 100 prehistoric creatures to hyperrealistic life to Navy Pier. Kids can ride atop a Carnotaurus or a T. Rex, visit a 50-foot Megalodon, go digging for fossils or play in a not-entirely-historically-accurate dinosaur bouncy house.
“El Greco: Ambition and Defiance”
After training in Venice and Rome, painter Domenikos Theotokopoulos moved to Spain in 1577 and began churning out work under the name “El Greco.” This exhibition, at the Art Institute of Chicago, allows guests to gaze at 57 works created by one of the most important painters of the Spanish Renaissance in the 16th century, including towering altarpieces, portraits and oil paintings gathered from all over the world.
