164 things to do in Chicago this weekend

Here's the thing about Chicago this time of year: October weekends fill up fast, and this one (Oct 02–Oct 04) is no exception. 164 events made the calendar, so we read through every one and kept the five worth your time.

Saturday is doing the heavy lifting with 80 events, and the mix leans art and books. Most events are ticketed. Details below.

If you're new to Chicago: Harold Washington Library Center is hosting 12 events this weekend alone — it's as good a starting point as any.

The full lineup

Every event on in Chicago this weekend, day by day:

Friday — 50 events

• — Audiobook & Craft Club: Horror
  Lincoln Belmont
• — Basketball - Open at Addams
  Addams (Jane) Park
• — Book Builders
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Craft n' Snack: Halloween Night-Lights
  McKinley Park
• — Creative Writing Workshop
  
• — Drop-In Gaming Hours for Teens
  Chicago Bee
• — ESL Practice: English Conversation Group
  Budlong Woods
• — ESL Practice: English Conversation Group
  Blackstone
• — ESL/ELL Practice: English Conversation Group
  Vodak-East Side
• — English Conversation Practice Group
  Manning
• — Exhale: A Friday Wind-Down for Juniors & Seniors
  Kelly
• — Family Latinx Music and Movement Story Time
  Uptown
• — Film Screening: Coco (2018)
  Back of the Yards
• — Film Screening: Dumbo (1941)
  Merlo
• — Film Screening: Project Hail Mary (2026)
  Budlong Woods
• — Film Screening: Smile 2 (2024)
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Ice Skating - Adult Open Skate at Morgan Park SC
  Morgan Park Sports Center Ice Rink (Indoor)
• — Ice Skating - Adult Skate (Figure Skating) at McFetridge
  McFetridge Ice Rink (Indoor)
• — Ice Skating - Adult Skate (Hockey) at McFetridge
  McFetridge Sports Center
• — Ice Skating - Freestyle Ice (Main Rink) at McFetridge
  McFetridge Ice Rink (Indoor)
• — Ice Skating - Freestyle Ice (Studio Rink) at McFetridge
  McFetridge Sports Center
• — Kitt Lyles’ Arabic Jazz Project at Douglass
  Douglass (Anna and Frederick) Park
• — LEGO® Club
  Toman
• — Lunch and Learn: Planning Together when Dementia Changes
  Lincoln Park
• — Mahjong Club
  Clearing
• — Make Mini Ojos de Dios
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Medicare Made Simple
  Austin
• — Mini Pumpkin Painting
  Humboldt Park
• — Multilingual Playgroup / 多语言游戏小活动
  Chinatown
• — Open Play Time
  West Loop
• — Pre-K Open Gym at Morgan Park SC
  Morgan Park Sports Center Park (Park No. 577)
• — Putting AI to Work: A Practical Session for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Quilting
  Austin
• — Reading Café
  Lozano
• — Senior Chair Yoga Fridays with Ms. Kim
  Garfield Ridge
• — Seniors’ Circle
  Austin-Irving
• — Stick & Puck at McFetridge
  McFetridge Sports Center
• — Story Time at Mayfair Park
  Mayfair Park
• — TV Screening: The Golden Girls (1985)
  Wrightwood-Ashburn
• — Teen Checkers Open Play
  Back of the Yards
• — Teen Time
  Rogers Park
• — Tiny Tots Story Time
  Chicago Lawn
• — Tot Spot at Addams
  Addams (Jane) Park
• — Track & Field (ASMG) - Open at Gately
  Gately (James) Park
• — Turf Field - Open at Addams
  Addams (Jane) Park
• — Volleyball - Open at Addams
  Addams (Jane) Park
• — World Farm Animal Day Cow Portraits
  Douglass
• — YOUmedia Takeover
  Wrightwood-Ashburn
• — Zumba Go Chair Fitness
  North Austin
• — [TEENS CRAFTS, GAMES AND PLAY]
  West Town

Saturday — 80 events

• — 3D Modeling with Tinkercad
  Gage Park
• — Adult Book Club: The Mayor of Maxwell Street
  Avalon
• — Adult Nonfiction Book Discussion: The City Is Up for Grabs
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Adult Open Gym Gymnastics at Morgan Park SC
  Morgan Park Sports Center Park (Park No. 577)
• — Art in the Library: Families Together
  Garfield Ridge
• — Basic Computer Skills Help
  Chicago Bee
• — Basketball - Open at Addams
  Addams (Jane) Park
• — Bike Maintenance
  Legler Regional
• — Bird Identification Walk
  Little Italy
• — Blood Drive with Versiti Blood Center of Illinois
  Independence
• — Blood on the Clocktower: A Social Deduction Game
  Merlo
• — CDPH Presents: Hypertension and Blood Pressure Screening/CDPH Presenta: Hipertensión y examen de la presión arterial
  Toman
• — CHI+AI Summit
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Cardio Kickboxing
  Legler Regional
• — Celebrate Little Village Branch's Quinceañera
  Little Village
• — Chess Club
  Northtown
• — Children's Halloween Costume Swap
  Edgebrook
• — Christian Larumbe: Refugio In The Parks at Calumet
  Calumet Park
• — Coding Club / Club de Programación
  West Lawn
• — Comic Book Roundtable: Vampire Comics
  Sulzer Regional
• — Community Yoga at the Library
  Daley, Richard M.-W Humboldt
• — Computer Literacy Class
  Thurgood Marshall
• — Construyendo Riqueza Generacional: Pasando Conocimiento, No Solo Dinero
  Portage-Cragin
• — Courtyard Tales: Preschool Story Time
  Obama Presidential Center
• — Crafting Saturdays: Wooden Coaster Painting
  South Chicago
• — Create Space / Espacio para Crear
  Back of the Yards
• — D&D for Adults Club: Savage Worlds
  Sulzer Regional
• — DadTime: Stories, Play and More
  Uptown
• — Dance Story Time with Tutu School Ballet
  Lincoln Park
• — Decoupage Wooden Trays
  Hall
• — ESL Conversation Cafe With Aquinas Literacy Center
  McKinley Park
• — ESL Practice: English Conversation Group
  Oriole Park
• — English Conversation Class for Beginners
  Northtown
• — Fall Fest at Athletic Field
  Athletic Field Park
• — Family Fun and Fiction Story Time
  Austin
• — Family Story Time
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Field Adventures
  West Lawn
• — Film Screening: Toy Story 5 (2026)
  Wrightwood-Ashburn
• — Film Screening: Vivo (2021)
  Chicago Bee
• — First Saturdays Stitch-a-Palooza
  Uptown
• — Freaky Fungi
  Edgewater
• — Game On: Board Game Play
  Chinatown
• — Go Run Chicago at Douglass
  Douglass (Anna and Frederick) Park
• — Google Career Certificate Info Session
  
• — Great Books Discussion: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Starry Messenger
  
• — Gymnastics at Jefferson
  Jefferson (Thomas) Memorial Park
• — Hispanic Heritage Month: Papel Picado Workshop
  Humboldt Park
• — Ice Skating - Freestyle Ice (Studio Rink) at McFetridge
  McFetridge Sports Center
• — Ice Skating - Freestyle Ice Pre-Alpha-Delta at McFetridge
  McFetridge Sports Center
• — Jazz Institute of Chicago presents: Lost in Space with Kevin King
  Budlong Woods
• — Junta Jazz Ensemble
  Wrightwood-Ashburn
• — LEGO® Club
  Douglass
• — Live Music Performance: Punk Rock with Perro Mundo
  Back of the Yards
• — Love Yourself Ballet
  Legler Regional
• — Mad Hatters Story Time
  Edgewater
• — Mean Girls Day Screening
  Archer Heights
• — Medicare 101 on Saturday
  Roden
• — Meet Chester Commodore: Drawing and Illustration 101
  Canaryville
• — Milk and Cookies Book Club: See the Ghost
  West Loop
• — Native Flower Mosaics
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Older is Bolder: An Introduction to Oral History
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Open Play Time
  Chicago Bee
• — Open Shop
  Gage Park
• — Organizing & Preserving Your Photo Collection With Jennifer Orr
  Blackstone
• — Pickleball - Open at McFetridge
  McFetridge Sports Center
• — Planner Meet Up
  Garfield Ridge
• — Pole Vault (ASMG) - Open at Gately
  Gately (James) Park
• — Pumpkin Patch at Holstein
  Holstein Park
• — Pumpkin Patch at Sheridan
  Sheridan (Philip Henry) Park
• — Puppet Story Time with Rocio "Chio" Cabrera
  Logan Square
• — STEAM-Powered Saturday
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Saturday Game Day
  Garfield Ridge
• — Saturday Story Time
  Legler Regional
• — Saturday Story Time: One Story Time, One Chicago
  Roden
• — Sew a Yoga Strap
  Legler Regional
• — Silent Read-In
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Tabletop Gaming Open Shop
  Sulzer Regional
• — The Art of Paper Magic: Origami for Everyone
  Near North
• — Toastmasters: MJM Speakers' Circle
  
• — Weekend LEGO® Club
  North Pulaski

Sunday — 34 events

• — 3D Printing 101
  Roden
• — Board Games and Puzzles Exchange
  Edgewater
• — Cine en Español: El laberinto del fauno/Pan's Labyrinth(2006)
  North Pulaski
• — Club de Lectura en Español: Rebeldes / S.E. Hinton
  Little Village
• — Crafting Corner
  Brighton Park
• — Dungeons & Dragons Club
  Lincoln Belmont
• — Earth Jam & Family Day in Sankofa for the Earth at Burnham
  Burnham (Daniel) Park
• — Entonces... ¿Qué es la IA? / What is AI, Anyway?
  Humboldt Park
• — Entrepreneurship in Jewelry-Making With Joy Joshua
  Toman
• — Family Film Screening: Goosebumps (2019)
  Back of the Yards
• — Family Film Screening: Minions & Monsters (2026)
  West Lawn
• — Film Screening: Apollo 13 (1995)
  Daley, Richard M.-W Humboldt
• — Film Screening: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
  Thurgood Marshall
• — Film Screening: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
  Kelly
• — Film Screening: Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
  Chicago Lawn
• — Film Screening: El Cantante (2006)
  Pullman
• — Film Screening: Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2025)
  King
• — Film Screening: Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2025)
  Vodak-East Side
• — Film Screening: Marriage on the Rocks
  Merlo
• — Film Screening: Scream (1996)
  Scottsdale
• — Film Screening: Selena (1997)
  South Chicago
• — Harvest Fest at Indian Boundary
  Indian Boundary Park
• — Mosaic Basics Workshop
  McKinley Park
• — One Story Time, One Chicago
  Jefferson Park
• — Parachute Play
  Harold Washington Library Center
• — Pole Vault (ASMG) - Open at Gately
  Gately (James) Park
• — Sensory Friendly Film Screening: Beetlejuice (1988)
  Archer Heights
• — Stick & Puck at McFetridge
  McFetridge Sports Center
• — Stitch Circle
  Budlong Woods
• — Sulzer Chess Meetup
  Sulzer Regional
• — Track & Field (ASMG) - Open at Gately
  Gately (James) Park
• — WTTW Kids Learn & Play
  West Town
• — Wici Song and Dance Company: Celebrating the Music & Dance of Poland
  Roden
• — World Music Festival Chicago at Humboldt
  Humboldt (Alexander Von) Park

See the full weekend calendar →
All upcoming events in Chicago →