If variety is the spice of life, this weekend has it made with both variety and spice. The new Chicago Hot Sauce Festival is for foodies with a penchant for heat. Can’t take the heat? Chicago Food and Wine Festival has plenty of milder options. For style inspiration, head to Chicago Fashion Fest, get your art on at Bucktown Art Fest or see dancers from around the country at Chicago Dancing Festival grand finale.
Chicago Hot Sauce Fest
When: Noon–10:30 p.m. Saturday and noon–10 p.m. Sunday
Where: Elston Avenue between Belmont and Francisco avenues
How much: $5 suggested donation
The skinny: Avondale is heating up with this new celebration of all things spicy. Try hot sauce and spicy snacks from more than 20 vendors, both local and national, including Fat Rice, Black Angel Saucery, Tonguespank Spice Company and Dia De Los Tamales. Catch spicy candy-eating contests, or give it a shot yourself with ghost pepper hard candy, moruga scorpion suckers and 2.3 million-scoville atomic suckers. Chicago’s Own Mobile Pizza also challenges festgoers to a spicy pizza-eating contest.
Bucktown Arts Fest
When: 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Holstein Park
How much: Free
The skinny: Nearly 200 artists come together for the 30th anniversary of this fest with food, craft beer and two stages for music. Browse artists such as Rest in Pieces Mosaic Parlor with cat, skull and owl mosaics, Nicolet Candle Company with woodsy-scented soy candles and Lion of Bali with handbound books and handmade paper.
Chicago Food and Wine Festival
When: 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Lincoln Park
How much: $175 per day, $550 for an all-in pass. Tickets: chicagofoodandwinefestival.com/tickets
The skinny: This inaugural upscale dining fest brings 90 food, wine, beer and spirit vendors for tastings, demonstrations and book signings with local and national all-star chefs. Between bites on Saturday, catch demos and sessions such as “Drink Like a Pro” with wine expert Mark Oldman (1:30 p.m. Cork Stage) and “The Art of Burning Food” with Tim Love (2:15 p.m. Ash Stage). On Sunday, head to “A Most Curious and Peculiar Cocktail Academy” tasting session (noon) and “Southern Food: Historical Tales Through Our Recipes” (12:45 p.m. Ash Stage). All-in ticket holders have access to two boozy evening events on Saturday, Toast & Taste (7–9:30 p.m. in Grant Park) and Last Call (9 p.m.–midnight at Block 37).
Chicago Fashion Fest
When: Noon–10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Division Street between Damen Avenue and Wood Street
How much: $5 suggested donation
The skinny: Emerging designers, local boutique owners and artists show looks in more than 20 runway shows on a 60-foot catwalk at the seventh annual Wicker Park fest. Show themes include vintage, back-to-school, bridal, pets and more looks for end of summer and fall. The main runway event, Wicker Park After Dark, takes place at 8 p.m. each night with looks by Anastasia Chatzka, Borris Powell, Prin by Prina Bagia and more designers. Plus, catch music curated by Subterranean, including California alt-rock band The Mowgli’s on Saturday (8:30 p.m.) and Atlanta garage rockers Black Lips on Sunday (8:50 p.m.).
Chicago Dancing Festival grand finale
When: 7:30–9:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Jay Pritzker Pavilion
How much: Free
The skinny: Catch the closing event, “Dancing Under the Stars,” of the 9th annual fest, which started Wednesday and draws dance companies from around the nation. See performances from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet and more.
Fest survival tip 16
Summer by day, fall by night is upon us. Make your festing last longer by packing a jacket or sweater. If you forget, however, there’s always booze.
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![There’ll be more than one story to write about “Sundance Institute x Chicago,” coming to town June 28-30. Consider these to be some preliminary questions to be answered in a couple of months. A sort of pop-up import, sponsored by the Chicago Film Office and Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism bureau, “Sundance Institute x Chicago” is the power of branding incarnate. The event will consist of a modest four-screening package of titles that premiered in January at the annual Sundance Film Festival of Park City, Utah fame. The off-screen activity’s the apparent bigger deal: panels, discussions, filmmaker-centric meetups, patterned after […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CTC-L-Sundance-01.jpg?w=579 "There’ll be more than one story to write about “Sundance Institute x Chicago,” coming to town June 28-30. Consider these to be some preliminary questions to be answered in a couple of months. A sort of pop-up import, sponsored by the Chicago Film Office and Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism bureau, “Sundance Institute x Chicago” is the power of branding incarnate. The event will consist of a modest four-screening package of titles that premiered in January at the annual Sundance Film Festival of Park City, Utah fame. The off-screen activity’s the apparent bigger deal: panels, discussions, filmmaker-centric meetups, patterned after […]")
