Cider, Carnivals and a Grey-Sky Thursday

An overcast, sweater-weather stretch made for cider tastings, a free neighborhood carnival, an immersive David Byrne installation, and a moon-viewing garden this weekend.

By Raj Singh · Published September 24, 2026.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Ciderfest @ Artifact Events

The annual Ciderfest is back at Artifact Events in Ravenswood, gathering local and regional cider makers for an evening of tastings. Your ticket includes a commemorative glass and pours from producers like 2 Towns Cider, JK Farmhouse Ciders, Right Bee Cider and Uncle John's Cider Mill, with more on the pour list.

Tickets are $43 and the event starts at 6:30 PM. It's indoors, which makes it a tidy answer to a cool, cloudy night — no weather gamble required.

Two Door Cinema Club @ The Salt Shed

The Northern Irish trio rolls into The Salt Shed in West Town with its Tourist History 15th Anniversary Tour — a celebration of the record that put them on the map fifteen years ago. The show starts at 7:00 PM. Check the listing for ticket availability before you head out.

St. Helen Carnival @ Ukrainian Village

Ukrainian Village's St. Helen Carnival is marking 20 years, and it's free. Thursday's run is 5:00–10:00 PM at St. Helen School, with carnival rides under the lights, music, food and drinks, a beer garden and kids' activities. It runs all the way through Sunday if tonight doesn't fit.

It's an outdoor affair, and the evening should stay dry under overcast skies with a high near 65 — bring a jacket for after dark.

Theater of the Mind @ Reid Murdoch Building

If the weather has you leaning indoors and strange, this is the one. Created by David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar and directed by Andrew Scoville, Theater of the Mind is an immersive experience inside River North's Reid Murdoch Building. Over roughly 75 minutes, groups of just 16 move through a 15,000-square-foot installation of rooms built around neuroscience — a show you see, feel, taste and hear rather than watch.

It runs on select days through November 22. Times and tickets are on the listing — worth a look before you plan around it.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

World Music Festival Chicago @ Chicago Cultural Center

The World Music Festival Chicago, now in its 24th year, opens Friday and runs through October 4. It brings performers from Brazil, South Korea, Senegal and beyond to venues across the city, with the Chicago Cultural Center in the Loop as a hub — and it's free.

With performances spread across the city and the calendar, the move is to check the listing for the day-by-day schedule and pick your night.

Movies in the Parks: Hoppers @ Athletic Field Park

The Park District's Movies in the Parks series lands at Athletic Field Park on Addison Friday with a free, all-ages screening of Hoppers. It kicks off around 6:45 PM, with the film rolling at dusk. Bring snacks, blankets or lawn chairs.

Friday stays dry but cool — a high near 62 dropping into the upper 50s once the sun's down — so an extra layer earns its keep on the grass.

ON THE HORIZON

Tsukimi: Moon Viewing Festival @ Osaka Garden, Jackson Park

For a genuinely different Saturday night, the Park District's annual Tsukimi returns to the Osaka Garden in Jackson Park from 8:00 to 11:00 PM. Moon viewing has been a pastime in Japan for centuries, and this free, all-ages evening leans into it with music and a haiku poet or two reading small poems under the harvest moon.

It's outdoors in the garden, and the organizers ask guests to register in advance, so sort that before Saturday. One honest note: the weekend forecast leans overcast, so the moon may keep its own counsel — the garden, the poems and the music hold up either way.