Things to do in Chicago this weekend are exactly what this city does best on a warm spring weekend. April 24 through 26 has a little bit of everything. There is a neighborhood race celebrating 30 years of community running, a Fire FC home game at Soldier Field with a giveaway, the biggest handmade shopping event of the spring, a free art walk through Wicker Park and Bucktown, Saturday morning at Green City Market and cherry blossoms in full bloom in Hyde Park. We are spoiled this weekend and I am here for every minute of it. Let’s get into all the best things to do in Chicago this weekend for kids and adults.
🧒 FOR THE KIDS
Chicago Fire FC vs. Sporting Kansas City at Soldier Field
📅 Saturday April 25 · 7:30pm📍 Soldier Field, 1410 S. Museum Campus Drive, South Loop🎟️ Tickets at chicagofirefc.com👦 All ages ⚽ CHICAGO SPORTS NIGHT · FREE PENNANT TO FIRST 5,000 FANS
Saturday night at Soldier Field with the lakefront behind you and 20,000 fans around you is one of the great Chicago sports experiences that is still genuinely underrated. The Fire are home for Chicago Sports Night against Sporting Kansas City and the first 5,000 fans through the gates get a Banner Pennant giveaway. Get there early.
Soccer is the fastest-growing sport in America, and as a result, kids who grow up going to Fire games are ahead of the curve. The atmosphere is electric, tickets are affordable and the setting is world-class. In addition, a warm Saturday night at the lakefront is reason enough. Grab your pennant, find your seats and let the city do the rest.
📷 Photo: Chicago Fire FC
Tickets at chicagofirefc.com. Take the #146 bus or rideshare to Museum Campus Drive.
🏡 Realtor Mom Take: Soldier Field anchors the South Loop and Museum Campus, one of the most scenic stretches of lakefront real estate in the city. This neighborhood continues to attract buyers who want proximity to the lake, easy access downtown and more square footage for the price than the North Side delivers. It is a conversation worth having.
Ravenswood Run: Chicago’s Favorite Neighborhood 5K
📅 Sunday April 26 · Morning📍 4550 N. Hermitage Ave., Ravenswood🎟️ Register at ravenswood5k.com · 5K + Kids’ Race | 🏃 30TH ANNIVERSARY
This one is special. The Ravenswood Run turns 30 this year, and that alone is worth showing up for. Since 1996, this neighborhood 5K has brought runners and families together through the tree-lined blocks and historic architecture of Lincoln Square and Ravenswood. In particular, the closed-street course is flat, fast and genuinely beautiful on a spring morning.
There is a Kids’ Race alongside the 5K, so the whole family can participate. In addition, every registration directly supports Ravenswood Community Services, the neighborhood nonprofit whose Community Kitchen and Food Pantry serves neighbors facing hunger and hardship. As a result, this is a run that means something. 30 years of that is worth celebrating.
Register at ravenswood5k.com. Whether you are chasing a PR or pushing a stroller, this one is for everyone.
📷 Photo: Ravenswood Run
🏡 Realtor Mom Take: Ravenswood and Lincoln Square are two of the most authentically neighborhood-feeling communities on the North Side. The kind of place where a 5K has run for 30 years and people still cheer from their front porches. Buyers who want that kind of community connection and still want walkability, great schools and a real neighborhood identity consistently land here. Inventory is limited and spring moves fast. We have a new single family home listing coming to this neighborhood, reach out for more details!
🍷 FOR THE ADULTS
One of a Kind Spring Show at the Merchandise Mart
📅 Fri April 24 and Sat April 25 · 10am to 7pm · Sun April 26 · 10am to 5pm📍 The MART, 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, 7th Floor, River North🎟️ $15 · Valid all three days · oneofakindshowchicago.com
This is Chicago’s best spring shopping weekend, full stop. The One of a Kind Spring Show takes over the entire 7th floor of the Merchandise Mart with more than 350 jury-selected artists, designers and makers from across North America. Fine art, home decor, fashion, jewelry, ceramics, photography and gourmet goods all under one roof, all original, all available to buy directly from the people who made them.
This year includes 35 emerging artists and more than 150 first-time exhibitors. Furthermore, each evening the show spills outside for ART on THE MART, one of the world’s largest digital art projections lighting up the iconic facade of the building along the river. Therefore, your $15 ticket gives you access all three days.
Take the Brown or Purple Line to the Merchandise Mart stop, which drops you directly into the building. Details at oneofakindshowchicago.com.
📷 Photo: One of a Kind Show Chicago
🏡 Realtor Mom Take: The Merchandise Mart sits right on the Chicago River in the heart of River North, one of the most dynamic and walkable neighborhoods in the city. The people walking out of the One of a Kind Show with a piece of art for their new home are often the same people thinking about where that home should be. If you are one of them, reach out.
🗺️ AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOODS THIS WEEKEND
Beyond the main picks, the city’s North Side neighborhoods are doing what they do best on a warm spring weekend. Here are three more worth knowing about.
🎨 Wicker Park Bucktown First Fridays Art Walk
Friday April 24 · 5pm to 9pm · Self-guided throughout Wicker Park and Bucktown · Free
The First Fridays Art Walk happens the first Friday of every month and April 24 is the one you want with warm weather finally here. Specifically, galleries, pop-up artist spaces, artist talks and more open their doors across the neighborhood, with beverages and light bites at select spots. Start at one end of Milwaukee Avenue and let the evening take you wherever it goes. 📷Credit: Choose Chicago
🏡 Realtor Mom Take: Wicker Park and Bucktown attract buyers who want cultural energy, walkability and independent business character built into their daily life. This art walk is not just a Friday night out. It is a preview of what it feels like to actually live here.
🌿 Green City Market at Lincoln Park
Saturday April 25 · 8am to 1pm · 1817 N. Clark St., Lincoln Park · Free to attend · greencitymarket.org
Saturday mornings at Green City Market are a full Lincoln Park ritual and one of the great warm-weather traditions in this city. In fact, 65 vendors, local farmers, fresh baked goods, flowers and ramps if you get there early enough make this a morning worth building your Saturday around. Consequently, it runs every Saturday through November so make it a habit starting now. 📷Credit: Green City Market
🏡 Realtor Mom Take: Lincoln Park buyers are often chasing exactly this lifestyle. The farmers market, the park, the zoo, the schools and the community all in one walkable radius. Spring is when this neighborhood reminds everyone exactly why it commands what it does. If you have been considering a move here, now is the time to look seriously.
🌸 Hanami: Cherry Blossom Festival at Jackson Park
Saturday April 25 · 1pm to 3pm · Jackson Park, Garden of the Phoenix, 6401 S. Stony Island Ave., Hyde Park · Free · Register at chicagoparkdistrict.com
More than 220 cherry trees surrounding the Columbian Basin in Jackson Park are at or near peak bloom this weekend. The Chicago Park District hosts its annual Hanami celebration Saturday afternoon with Tsukasa Taiko performances, children’s taiko workshops, traditional dance and origami folding. Above all, it is free, it is all ages and it is one of those only-in-Chicago moments that genuinely stops you in your tracks. Therefore, register in advance since capacity is limited and it will fill up.
📷Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
🏡 Realtor Mom Take: Hyde Park is one of the most architecturally rich and intellectually alive neighborhoods in Chicago, and it remains genuinely undervalued by North Side buyers who have never spent a weekend exploring it. With the Obama Presidential Center opening nearby this summer, the highly desirable Lab School, have families flocking to this neighborhood and its trajectory is one worth watching closely right now.
Peak Spring Market: The Window Is Wide Open Right Now
What I Am Seeing on the Ground
We are at the peak of spring market right now. Most properties in our North Side Chicago neighborhoods are selling in a single weekend. Sellers who are priced right and presented well are fielding multiple offers before Sunday night. That is not a prediction. That is what I am watching happen in real time.
This level of intensity will not last forever. By June things normalize. Summer brings lifestyle competition, vacation schedules and a natural softening of the urgency we are seeing right now. The buyers who are active today are motivated, pre-approved and making fast decisions. That is exactly the environment sellers want to be in.
A Note From Our Team
🏆 Every transaction represents a family we helped navigate one of the biggest decisions of their lives. If you want that level of dedication on your side this spring, or next spring, we are here for you.
📞 773.732.1063 | yt@yeagerteam.com | yeagerteam.com
Go Enjoy This City. It Is Doing a Lot Right Now.
Soccer at the lakefront on Saturday night. A 30-year neighborhood run on Sunday morning. The best handmade art and goods in the city all weekend. Consequently, a free art walk through Wicker Park, a farmers market in Lincoln Park and cherry blossoms in Hyde Park round out a weekend that is completely full. Every single piece of it is something you can only do in Chicago.
Furthermore, if any of the neighborhoods mentioned this week have been on your radar, this is the weekend to explore them on foot. In short, the market is moving fast and the best way to know if a neighborhood is right for you is to spend time in it.
Drop a comment below and tell me what is on your list this weekend. I always love hearing from this community.
Enjoy Chicago, Juliana