SAUCED Night Market & 4 More Chicago Plans This Week

Five picks across Friday and Saturday: a West Town makers’ market, Disclosure at the Salt Shed, the Charley Harper exhibit at the Children’s Museum, a pickle-themed Wrigleyville crawl, and Fire–Red Bulls at Soldier Field with a free comic book.

By Raj Singh · Published May 8, 2026.

Friday in Chicago and we’re finally getting some real spring air — 61° and overcast today, 71° tomorrow, both days dry. It’s the perfect weekend to actually leave the apartment: a makers’ market in a working glass studio, Disclosure at the Shed for their first proper indoor headliner of the tour, the Children’s Museum if you’ve got small humans, then Saturday rolls into the most ridiculous Wrigleyville crawl of the year (yes, it’s pickles), and a Fire–Red Bulls afternoon match at Soldier Field with a free comic book to the first ten thousand. Five picks across two days. Pace yourself.

FRIDAY, MAY 8

SAUCED Night Market @ Ignite Glass Studios

6–11pm · free · West Town

It’s the SAUCED Night Market’s spring return to Ignite Glass Studios, the working hot shop on Armour Street, and it leans hard into the “makers’ market” framing in the best way. Over forty Chicago vendors set up across the studio, with the printed pitch promising everything from hand-blown glass flowers to delicate watercolors and the kind of small-batch goods you can’t buy on Amazon. The Ignite team usually has the furnaces going during these — a glass-blowing demo by a working artisan in a 2,000-degree shop is reason enough to come.

The vibe is West Town gallery night more than craft-fair tent city: warm light, raw industrial space, easy chatting with the makers themselves rather than middlemen. Doors typically open early evening and you can come and go. It’s indoor, so today’s overcast 61° doesn’t matter, and there’s usually a small bar setup. Bring cash and a tote — half the joy is leaving with a piece of glass you watched somebody pull out of a furnace ninety minutes earlier.

Logistics: 401 N Armour, two blocks west of Ogden in West Town. The neighborhood eats are easy. Funkenhausen for the schnitzel and Hawaiian-style fried chicken sandwich, Tempesta Market for an Italian sub to take with you, or — if you want to make a night of it — the Aviary cocktail program is six minutes east on Fulton if you’ve already mortgaged your future. Park on the side streets or take the Blue Line to Grand and walk fifteen minutes. Free entry, vendor prices vary.

Disclosure (Live) @ The Salt Shed

doors 6:30pm · $60–95 + fees · Goose Island

Disclosure are doing a proper live show tonight at the Salt Shed — not a DJ set (that’s tomorrow night at Radius, separate ticket) — which means Guy and Howard Lawrence behind the kit and the keys with the full lighting rig and a vocalist out front. They’ve been on a slow-burn return ever since "Alchemy" dropped, and the U.S. dates have been a mix of festival appearances and one-night indoor headliners; this is Chicago’s indoor headliner. If you saw them at Lolla a couple summers ago, you know the difference between “DJ booth at the back of a stage” and “two brothers actually playing the songs” is the entire reason to buy this ticket.

The Shed is the right room for this. The main hall holds ~3,300 standing, the sound system is tuned within an inch of its life, and the bar lines move. Expect 25-and-up energy on the floor, packs of friends, and a mostly age-mixed room — Disclosure’s catalog spans 2013’s “Latch” all the way to last year’s record so the crowd skews older than your average dance show. Doors at 6:30, but you don’t need to be there at six — go eat first.

Goose Island around the Shed is mostly industrial, so eat before you walk in. Best move: Pequod’s on Clybourn (the deep-dish with the burnt-cheese crust, fifteen-minute walk or two-minute Lyft) or Parson’s Chicken & Fish if the patio queue is moving. Park in the Shed’s lot ($25) or take a rideshare and avoid the post-show crawl up Elston. Tickets still on the resale market last we checked but the venue floor isn’t huge — show up by 8 if you want a sightline.

I AM WILD: A Charley Harper Exhibit @ Chicago Children’s Museum

10am–5pm · $22 / kids under 1 free · Streeterville

Charley Harper was the Cincinnati-based nature illustrator who turned cardinals and chipmunks into geometric color-field studies — he called it “minimal realism” — and his work has somehow only grown more loved since his death. The Children’s Museum on Navy Pier has built an immersive walk-through exhibit around his catalog, splitting it into six habitat rooms (Desert, Ocean, Rainforest, Sky, Woods, City) with hands-on installations at every turn. It’s genuinely well-designed: kids touch and play, parents get to nerd out at the prints, and the gift shop is dangerous if you have wall space at home.

This is the indoor move on a 61-degree overcast Friday — Navy Pier is a five-minute walk from the Lake but you don’t have to deal with the wind. The crowd is mostly under-eight in stroller battalions, but the exhibit is scoped for ages 2–10 and the sensory rooms hold attention even for the older end. Plan two hours minimum; the museum has a separate “Kids Town” area attached so it scales to a half-day if your kid doesn’t want to leave.

Tickets are $22 timed-entry, kids under one free, free for active military. Park in the Navy Pier garage (validate inside for a discount) or skip the parking and take the 124 bus straight from Union Station / Ogilvie. Lunch options on the pier are fine but the play is to walk back along the riverwalk to City Winery or grab the Lyou-Malik truck depending on what’s set up. Coat check is free, which matters because you’ll be hauling layers.

SATURDAY, MAY 9

Chicago Pickle Fest @ Wrigleyville (multi-bar crawl)

12pm–5pm · $25–45 (entry + drink package) · Wrigleyville

Yes this is real, and yes it is exactly what it sounds like: a multi-bar crawl through Wrigleyville built entirely around brined cucumbers. Pickle martinis at one stop, deep-fried pickles at another, picklebacks (whiskey, pickle juice, regret) on rotation, a pickle-themed photo wall, and live bands across the half-dozen participating bars on Clark. The base ticket gets you wristband entry to all the venues plus a drink package; upgrades stack from there. It’s the kind of event that has no business being this fun and somehow always is.

The vibe is Wrigleyville Saturday afternoon, which is to say loud, packed, mostly 25–35, and unselfconsciously ridiculous. The Cubs are out of town this weekend so you’re not also fighting baseball traffic — meaning you can actually walk between bars without pushing through 40,000 fans. Don’t come hungry-hungover; come fed and curious. Outdoor patios will be in play tomorrow (71° and overcast, 12% precip — solid odds you won’t get rained on, but bring a light layer for the patio shade).

Start at 3506 N Clark and follow the signage. Pre-game food rec: Smoke Daddy on Clark for ribs and brisket, or Tuco & Blondie for the platters if you want grease-armor. Take the Red Line to Addison; do not drive. Tickets selling on do312, and the early-bird tier was already gone last we checked but day-of wristbands are usually still available at the first venue. Pace yourself — five hours of pickle juice is longer than it sounds.

Chicago Fire FC vs. New York Red Bulls @ Soldier Field

1:30pm kickoff · $22+ (free comic to first 10K) · Museum Campus

Fire vs. Red Bulls is a real Eastern Conference fixture — these two have been clawing at each other for playoff seedings for years — and tomorrow’s 1:30 kickoff at Soldier Field is the kind of weekend afternoon match that’s genuinely fun even if you don’t follow MLS. The first 10,000 fans through the gates get a custom Fire-themed comic book, which is the kind of giveaway that ends up framed on a wall years later. Sectional energy in the supporters’ stands behind the south goal is the best in the league this side of Atlanta.

The vibe is family-friendly afternoon match: Section 8 (the supporters’ section) is loud and on-brand chaotic but the rest of the bowl is bring-your-kids easy. Soldier Field’s grass is in great shape this spring and the lakefront is genuinely beautiful at game time tomorrow — 71° at kickoff, overcast (so no bleacher sunburn), 12% precip means an umbrella is overkill but a windbreaker isn’t. Wear red.

Get there by 12:45 if you want the comic — those 10K go fast. Tailgating is allowed in the Waldron Lot but lines back up; the easier play is the Adler Lot and walk it. Best post-match eat: Maxwell Street Polish at Jim’s Original on Halsted (open 24/7, $5 sandwich, cash preferred), or the Field Museum + Aurelio’s deep-dish combo if you’re making a Sunday-Funday of it. CTA: 146 bus from State drops you 200 yards from the gate. Tickets from $22 on Ticketmaster, plenty of upper-bowl available.