Curtains, Punk and a Free Round of Bingo

Your daily guide to what's popping in Chicago

By Raj Singh · Published September 29, 2026.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

The Saint Cecilia @ Subterranean

The Saint Cecilia, an international act out of San José, Costa Rica, plays Subterranean tonight — and the room is half the story. Subterranean has anchored Wicker Park's live-music scene since 1994, inside an 1890s building at 2011 W North Avenue that, per the venue, once did time as a brothel, a bathhouse and a Prohibition-era gambling wire room. Owner Robert Gomez has kept the original bones intact.

Doors and show are both listed at 7 PM, tickets run $15–$20, and it's a 17+ show. If you want to eat first, Big Star and Antique Taco are both a short walk away in Wicker Park.

Music Bingo @ Gallagher Way

Free music bingo returns to Gallagher Way, the open plaza beside Wrigley Field, and tonight's round is themed Musicals & Broadway. Each week covers a different genre; this is the show-tunes edition. Team sign-up starts at 5:30 PM and the first game kicks off at 6.

It's free and outdoors, and the weather cooperates for once — overcast, about 71 degrees, with almost no rain in the forecast. Take the Red Line to Addison, or the 22 or 152 bus.

Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical @ CIBC Theatre

How did a dead body, a fake love letter and — of all people — Ian Fleming help turn the tide of World War II? Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical builds a comedy out of the real Allied deception that did exactly that. It won the Olivier for Best New Musical and a 2025 Tony, and Entertainment Weekly called it the #1 Broadway show of 2025 — billed as the best-reviewed show in West End history, with 88 five-star reviews.

It's at the CIBC Theatre in the Loop (18 W Monroe) and runs daily through October 11, so tonight is one of many chances — check the box office for curtain times.

Queer Quentos — Destinos Festival @ Center on Halsted

Queer Quentos is a one-night-only storytelling evening celebrating the voices of queer, lesbian and transgender Latines in Chicago, part of Destinos, the 9th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival. Hosted by Norma Seledon and made possible with support from Center on Halsted, it takes cues from the intimate, first-person feel of the city's OUTspoken! LGBTQ+ Stories series.

It starts at 7:30 PM tonight at Center on Halsted. It's a single performance — once it's done, it's done.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

2026 Taste of Uptown

Now in its 10th year, the Taste of Uptown is a passport-style restaurant crawl through Uptown's business corridors — you get an event passport and stroll from spot to spot sampling small bites. This year splits into two routes, a Plate Route and a Bowl Route; note that the Bowl Route is already listed as sold out.

It runs Wednesday, September 30, from 6 to 9 PM, rain or shine. Last-minute tickets are $45 and, per the organizers, available online only through September 28–29 — so today is effectively your window.

Uptown Farmers Market @ Sunnyside Mall

If you're already in Uptown that afternoon, the Uptown Farmers Market runs the same Wednesday along Sunnyside Mall, the pedestrian stretch of Sunnyside just south of Wilson Avenue in Uptown. It's an independent market of regional farm goods and local food — it's free, it's dog-friendly, and SNAP and Link Match are accepted by all eligible vendors.

The catch is the forecast: Wednesday looks wet, around 68 degrees with a good chance of rain. The organizers run it rain or shine, so bring a jacket or plan around the showers. It's open 2:30 to 7 PM.

THIS WEEK

Lincoln Square Ravenswood Apple Fest

Looking to the weekend: the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Apple Fest returns for one apple-filled weekend with more than 100 vendors. Shop the marketplace of autumnal goods, eat apple-infused dishes from local restaurants, drink cider and apple beer, and catch live music — a proper start to fall on the Northwest Side.

It runs Friday, October 2 (from 3 PM) through Sunday, October 4 (from 9 AM) along Lincoln Avenue between Lawrence and Wilson. There's a $5 suggested donation. Take the Brown Line to Western or Montrose, or the 49, 78 or 81 bus.