Warm Rooms for a Drizzly Chicago Sunday

Your daily guide to what's popping in Chicago

By Raj Singh · Published November 1, 2026.

Chicago woke up to a gray, drizzly Sunday — a high around 61 and a fine mist that never quite commits to rain. It's a day built for warm rooms: a concert hall, a karaoke booth, a library matinee, a museum you've been meaning to get to. Here's where to point yourself today, tomorrow, and into the week.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1

Día de los Muertos @ Navy Pier

Navy Pier hands its halls over to Día de los Muertos today, with art, performances and activities built around the holiday's traditions. The centerpiece is a community ofrenda in the Family Pavilion on the Landing, where you're invited to add a photo or a small memento to honor someone you've lost.

Two films screen free in Crystal Gardens — Coco and The Conjuring — and the pier suggests bringing a blanket or a chair if you want to settle in for one. Food and snacks are available from the pier's shops and restaurants. It runs Sunday from 1 to 10 p.m., and admission is free.

Bruce Liu @ Orchestra Hall

Pianist Bruce Liu returns to Orchestra Hall this afternoon, five years after he won the 2021 International Chopin Competition and vaulted onto the world's stages. The Chicago Classical Review has praised his "immaculate pianism" and "fiery virtuosity" — a rare, early-career appearance from a player everyone's watching.

The recital runs 3 to 5 p.m. at Symphony Center on South Michigan Avenue, in the heart of the Loop's arts corridor.

Edward Scissorhands @ Scottsdale Library

The Scottsdale branch library closes out the Halloween season with Weekend Cinema's screening of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990) — the modern fairy tale about a gentle, unfinished creation with blades for hands who's taken in by a suburban family.

It's rated PG-13 and runs about 100 minutes, starting at 1:30 p.m. at the branch on West 79th Street. English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing will be available.

Karaoke @ Trader Todd's

If the drizzle has you wanting a mic instead of an umbrella, Trader Todd's in Lakeview bills itself as "the greatest karaoke bar in the world" and runs karaoke Wednesday through Sunday, open to close.

On a Sunday there's no cover — the $5 charge only kicks in Friday and Saturday after 9 p.m. — so you can wander in on Sheffield and sing for free.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2

Freestyling Workshop @ McFetridge Sports Center

Monday afternoon, McFetridge Sports Center hosts a freestyling and improv dance workshop as part of the Park District's Night Out in the Parks. It's pitched at dancers of every style — the idea is to run through prompts and exercises that build confidence in your own improvisation.

It's all ages, costs $12, and runs 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the center on North California Avenue.

Brunch Happy Hour @ Wake 'n Bacon

Wake 'n Bacon in Lakeview runs a weekday happy hour it calls the perfect Monday pick-me-up: 50% off cocktails, coffees and food from 2 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

There's no cover — just a colorful room on West Belmont to ease into the week over half-price brunch bites.

ON THE HORIZON

Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers @ MCA

Saturday, the Museum of Contemporary Art opens the biggest show on this week's horizon: "Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers," a survey spanning the Chicago artist's nearly three-decade career across photography, video, immersive painting and large-scale installation.

It opens November 7 and runs through April 25, 2027, so there's no rush to beat a closing — but opening weekend is the moment it's freshest. General admission is $22 for adults, $14 for students and seniors, and free for kids; the MCA sits on East Chicago Avenue in Streeterville, a short walk from the Red Line's Chicago stop.