Buddy Guy, the WNBA, and a Honky-Tonk Kind of Day

Your daily guide to what's popping in Chicago

By Raj Singh · Published July 24, 2026.

It's an overcast, sweater-weather Friday in Chicago — 76 and gray, dropping into the high 50s tonight, with basically no rain to dodge. It's also the weekend the WNBA takes over the city, so the energy downtown is dialed up even under flat skies. Here's where to point yourself, from a free honky-tonk residency to a grown-up movie in the park, plus a legend's 90th birthday and All-Star weekend's main event on the horizon.

FRIDAY, JULY 24

The Hoyle Brothers @ Empty Bottle

Every Friday the Empty Bottle hands its stage to The Hoyle Brothers, and the price of admission is exactly zero. This is a long-running Chicago honky-tonk residency — pedal steel, two-step rhythms, and a room full of regulars who know when to holler. The band bills itself as lightin' the way on the Chicago country scene, and for a free 5:30 set that's a low-stakes way to test whether you like your Friday with a little twang.

The Empty Bottle is a scruffy, beloved Ukrainian Village dive on Western Avenue — cheap cans, a photo booth in the back, and zero pretense. It's 21+, so leave the kids home. Get there close to 5:30; the early slot means you can catch a full set and still have the whole night ahead of you.

Weather's cooperating — overcast and 76 dropping into the high 50s tonight, 2% chance of rain, so no umbrella for the walk over. Free, 21+, doors early. Grab a Hamm's and find a spot near the pedal steel.

WNBA 3-Point Contest & Kia Shooting Stars @ Wintrust Arena

Chicago is the center of the basketball universe this weekend — the WNBA All-Star festivities have taken over, and tonight's the appetizer. The State Farm 3-Point Contest and Kia Shooting Stars land at Wintrust Arena at 7PM, the skills-and-splashes night before Saturday's main event. It's the loose, fun part of All-Star weekend: pure shot-making, no defense, the league's best snipers letting it fly.

Wintrust Arena sits just off McCormick Place in the South Loop — a modern, mid-size room (roughly 10,000 seats) where you're closer to the floor than you'd be at a stadium show. Expect a hyped, jersey-heavy crowd in town for the whole weekend.

It's indoors, so tonight's clouds don't matter. Doors and start at 7PM; check transit or budget for event parking around Cermak, which fills fast on a weekend like this. Can't get in? It's the warm-up for Saturday's All-Star Game a few miles west.

Movies in the Parks: Well Done! @ Ward Park

Most Movies in the Parks nights lean family — this one doesn't. Ward Park is screening 'Well Done!' (Complètement cramé!), a French comedy-drama starring John Malkovich as a widowed British businessman who reinvents himself as a butler on a French estate and butts heads with its eccentric owner, played by Fanny Ardant. It's in French with English subtitles, underwritten by the Consulate General of France in Chicago — a genuinely grown-up pick for a free outdoor movie.

Ward Park is that tidy green stretch along Kingsbury on the near-north edge of River North, close to the river. Bring a blanket, a picnic, maybe a thermos — the screen goes on at dusk, listed around 8:45PM, and the film runs about 100 minutes.

Tonight's overcast and cooling into the high 50s by showtime with just a 2% rain chance, so pack a layer and you're set. Free, all ages, no ticket — first come, first grass.

Someone Else's Nowhere @ The Den Theatre

Six Eleven Theatre Company opens the world premiere of 'Someone Else's Nowhere' tonight at The Den — a dark comedy-thriller about a reality-TV film crew that finds itself stranded in an unfamiliar wilderness, where nothing turns out to be what it seemed. It's a brand-new script getting its very first audience, which is half the fun of small Chicago theater: you're seeing it before anyone's formed an opinion.

The Den Theatre is the multi-stage storefront complex on Milwaukee Avenue in the heart of Wicker Park, a short walk from the Damen six-corners. Tickets are $25 and it's recommended for ages 18+ for language. Curtain is 7:30PM; if you want to make a night of it, Wicker Park's dinner options are dense — Big Star's walk-up window slings tacos and margaritas a few blocks down, or Dove's Luncheonette for chilaquiles and a deep tequila list.

It runs through August 2 if tonight doesn't work, but opening night has the electric first-audience energy. $25, 18+, 7:30PM curtain.

SATURDAY, JULY 25

Buddy Guy — 90 Tour @ The Chicago Theatre

Buddy Guy turns 90, and he's marking it the only way that makes sense — on a Chicago stage, playing the blues that made him. Saturday night at The Chicago Theatre, the polka-dot Stratocaster comes out for the Buddy Guy 90 Tour, a hometown birthday party for a man who mentored a generation and still plays with more fire than performers a third his age. If you've been meaning to see him, the math on 'someday' is running out.

The Chicago Theatre is the grand old marquee house on State Street in the Loop — plush seats, gilded everything, and sightlines built for exactly this kind of legacy show. It's seated and classy; dress a notch up if you like.

Showtime is 7:30PM Saturday. Make it a Loop evening and grab schnitzel and a stein at The Berghoff on Adams beforehand — it's been feeding downtown since 1898 and sits a few blocks from the theater. This is a milestone night; walk-up tickets will be tight.

Green City Market @ West Loop

Saturday morning belongs at Green City Market, Chicago's flagship sustainable farmers market, and the West Loop edition sets up its outdoor stalls in Fulton Market. This is the real thing: Midwest growers hauling in peak-summer produce, plus bakers, cheesemakers, and prepared-food stalls. It runs 8AM to 1PM, and the market triple-matches SNAP/LINK benefits, so it's built to be accessible, not precious.

Fulton Market is the old meatpacking district turned dining destination, all exposed brick and murals — worth a wander after you've filled a tote. Come hungry and graze the market's own vendors for breakfast rather than planning a sit-down.

Saturday looks pleasant — overcast, 81, barely any rain risk — ideal market weather before Sunday's heat spikes into the 90s. Free to browse; bring cash and a sturdy bag. Go early for the best tomatoes and the shortest lines.

ON THE HORIZON

WNBA All-Star 2026 @ United Center

Here's the weekend's tentpole: the 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game tips off Saturday at 7:30PM at the United Center, the culmination of a full weekend that's turned Chicago into the league's capital. The best players in the world, one floor, Chicago hosting — this is the marquee, and the building will be loud.

The United Center sits on the Near West Side just west of the West Loop, the same house the Bulls and Blackhawks call home. It's a big-room spectacle: expect halftime production, a star-studded crowd, and All-Star energy dialed all the way up.

Tickets for a host-city All-Star Game move fast and prices climb as the date lands, so if you're going, lock it in now rather than gambling on the door. Tonight's 3-Point Contest at Wintrust is the appetizer; Saturday at the United Center is the main course. 7:30PM Saturday.