The Joy Of Illinois

Tis The Season of Outdoor Events

They seem to host a lot of outdoor concerts and movies around here in the summer, and you just turn up with a picnic and something to sit on. A lot of them are free, and others are pretty cheap. Some local towns have something on every week, and then there is one place called Ravinia, which has its own festival with something on every weekday evening for 3 months, and every weekend as well. They feature a big mix of stuff, with some pretty big names, like Gipsy Kings, Hootie & the Blowfish, Wyclef Jean, The Beach Boys, as well as loads of classical music nights, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays there a lot.

So far we have been to a couple of these, and have more planned. We went to the Cuneo Museum, which is a local place that used to be a private house, with lovely grounds, on Wednesday to see a Frank Sinatra tribute singer, who had a very good voice. It was a lovely evening, perfect weather and setting, on the grass between a lake and the house.

Then yesterday I went with a few people from the book club to Ravinia to see the Wizard of Oz. They had put up giant movie screens in the park, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was there to play the music alongside the film. It was very packed in there, but was a brilliant night. I had a great view of the screen, although of course have seen it a million times before, but you can never see it too many times! And there was good audience participation, with cheering when Toto escaped the clutches of the witch, and when the witch was shrunk with the water.

Then this week coming, we are going to Ravinia 2 nights, to see Aretha Franklin and Tony Bennett. And on Thursday we will be going to a local park to see Shrek 2 on a giant movie screen. So a busy time planned, with lots of different picnic foods needed!

posted by Lorraine Kenmuir @ 12:48 pm