The 78

Chicago knows how to party like it’s 1985—or 1975, or even ’65. And this September, Roscoe Village once again transforms into a living, breathing time machine with the 30th Annual Retro on Roscoe Festival.

From Friday, September 5 through Sunday, September 7, the neighborhood becomes ground zero for nostalgia junkies and festival die-hards. Three stages blast out decades-spanning hits—everything from disco grooves to hair metal anthems—while side streets fill with chrome-dripping classic cars, vinyl-worthy vintage shopping, and a full-on retro carnival for the senses.

Foodies will find old-school bites and craft sips, kids can dive into family-friendly games and activities, and if you’re lucky, you’ll catch the legendary Weinermobile rolling through on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. It’s not just a street fest—it’s a throwback block party that rewinds the soul of Chicago.

📍 Where: 2000 W. Roscoe St. (Damen to Leavitt, Roscoe Village)

🗓️ When: Fri, Sept. 5 (5–10 p.m.); Sat, Sept. 6 (Noon–10 p.m.); Sun, Sept. 7 (Noon–8 p.m.)

Step inside The Alley Chicago and you’re stepping into decades of rebellion, leather, studs, and stories. On the walls? A collection of rare CBGB relics that pay tribute to the East Village club that rewrote music history. Opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal, CBGB was supposed to be about country, bluegrass, and blues—but instead it became ground zero for punk and new wave’s raw explosion, launching icons like Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Television.

The Alley’s exclusive event is more than nostalgia—it’s a bridge between two legendary counterculture epicenters. For over 40 years, The Alley has been Chicago’s loudest landmark for punks, bikers, goths, and outsiders of every stripe. Owner Mark Thomas says it best: “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”

That’s the ethos. Fashion isn’t just fabric—it’s identity, rebellion, and self-expression. With The Alley carrying the CBGB torch, the Midwest finally has a shrine where punk’s past collides with its future.

Punk history lives. And in Chicago, it still kicks down the door.

📍 The Alley Chicago – 2620 West Fletcher St, Chicago, IL 60618

In the shadow of Chicago, tucked inside an unassuming building on Ogden Avenue, beats the neon heart of the world’s largest arcade. With over 900 restored cabinets, a flat $25 entry fee, and a no-token, no-BS approach to classic gaming, Galloping Ghost Arcade is nothing short of a digital cathedral — a living, beeping, button-mashing monument to video game history.

And at the center of it all?

Doc Mack — the high priest of pixels, part historian, part mad scientist, and 100% devoted to the resurrection of the arcade era.

Galloping Ghost didn’t just open on Friday the 13th in August 2010 — it kicked the doors open with 130 forgotten games that Doc and his team literally salvaged from destruction. By 2014, the place had already claimed the title of largest arcade in the world, drawing in machines — and pilgrims — from But Galloping Ghost isn’t some nostalgia tourist trap. This is a functioning museum of rare and legendary machines. You’ll find the usual suspects — Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Street Fighter II — but what sets this place apart are the white whales: Primal Rage II, Hammer Away, and Godzilla, to name a few. Games you’ve only heard whispers of in obscure gaming forums? They’re here. Working. Playable. Loved.

And that’s the secret sauce: preservation meets passion.

Doc Mack’s vision was always bigger than joysticks and high scores. He saw a vacuum in the Chicago gaming scene — a city that still had arcades, sure, but where most machines were broken, unloved, or forgotten. He built Galloping Ghost not just to restore games, but to restore the culture around them.

“I didn’t just want people to play,” Mack says. “I wanted them to remember why these games mattered.”

And people did.

From families on weekend nostalgia trips to hardcore competitors chasing high scores, the arcade has become a magnet for community. There’s no ego, no gatekeeping. Just gamers of all skill levels learning from each other, pushing themselves, and — most importantly — respecting the craft. It’s competitive, sure, but never cold. It’s sweaty, but never toxic. Think Fight Club with more pixels and less punching.

The all-day entry model — just $25, no coins needed — creates the kind of free-roaming gaming experience that kids in the ‘80s could only dream of. It breaks down the barrier between you and that cabinet you always wanted to try. You’re not budgeting quarters — you’re diving deep.

And don’t get it twisted: this isn’t just a place to play — it’s a place to witness. Galloping Ghost hosts professional tournaments, record attempts, and deep-dive sessions with Doc himself. Behind the scenes, there’s a meticulous restoration lab, where machines get new life under the careful eyes of techs who treat 1983 circuit boards like holy relics.

So what’s next?

Doc Mack isn’t stopping. New games arrive regularly. Expansion plans are always on the horizon. And with a global resurgence in retro gaming culture, Galloping Ghost isn’t just keeping the arcade scene alive — it’s leading the charge.

Because this isn’t just about games.

This is about preserving a legacy, one pixel at a time.

Whether you’re a joystick junkie, a pinball wizard, or a curious wanderer who grew up feeding quarters into cabinets at your local pizza joint, Galloping Ghost Arcade isn’t a place you visit once — it’s a place you come back to again and again.

Chicago’s about to get louder, hotter, and cheesier — and not just because of August. Pizza City Fest Chicago is back for Year Three, rolling into River North August 22–24 with a brand-new format, a new venue at 430 N. Rush St., and a soundtrack cranked up courtesy of Q101 and Duff Entertainment. Think: a pizza-fueled block party one block off Michigan Avenue, where molten cheese meets live guitars.

The mastermind behind this carb-laden carnival is Emmy-winning, 13-time James Beard Award winner Steve Dolinsky — the city’s unofficial pizza ambassador and the guy who knows every crispy edge and gooey center from the South Side to Cary, Illinois. This year’s lineup? Fourteen pizza makers a day, each slinging their signature pies hot from industrial-sized Marra Forni ovens. No heat lamps. No freezers. Just fresh-baked glory in every slice.

Dolinsky’s mission isn’t just to fill your stomach — it’s to feed your pizza IQ. Sunday’s exclusive seminar series dives into the big questions: What is Chicago Style Pizza, really? and How do you make killer pizza at home without a wood-fired oven? Expect plenty of dough-stretching, cheese-pulling demos, and maybe a few secrets only locals know.

But the fest’s emotional crescendo might just be My Pi’s swan song. The legendary deep-dish joint shuttered in June, but owner Rich Aronson is firing up the ovens one last time — August 24 only — to honor the 54th anniversary of his father Larry’s first My Pi on Loyola’s campus. For Chicago pizza die-hards, it’s a one-day-only farewell you don’t want to miss.

And because pizza tastes better with a bassline, the weekend’s got a stacked live music roster: Sixteen Candles, Trippin’ Billies, Sunfallen, One for the Ditch, and more. Toss in Italian ice, gelato, games, sponsor swag, and enough pizza boxes to build a fort, and you’ve got the makings of Chicago’s ultimate late-summer binge.

General admission starts at $39.50, VIP at $125 (with unlimited food, two drinks, early access, and a private lounge). Sunday’s GA gets you into the seminars and even a pizza box folding competition — because folding cardboard with style is an art form, too.

Tickets? They’re already moving fast. Hit pizzacityfest.com before you’re stuck watching the cheese pull on Instagram instead of in your hands.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgcwBBIFXqCUuscCXh4RM4kg1pZIj6H_n&si=y8Vf3Bhe_Mivsln1https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKYFfirGPpVn_sSaUvoceJg?

If you’ve never been to Northalsted Market Days, you’re missing one of the Midwest’s wildest, most unapologetic weekends of live music, glitter, and pure Chicago energy. The 42nd Annual Market Days is back August 8–10, 2025, bigger than ever — and this year it’s not just a street festival, it’s a three-day love letter to music, community, and pride in the city’s iconic Northalsted/Lakeview neighborhood.

Picture it: four massive stages, thousands of fans from around the globe, over 300 LGBTQ+ vendors, and a lineup so stacked it could headline Coachella. We’re talking Keke Palmer, David Archuleta, Monét X Change, comedian Joe Dombrowski, RuPaul’s Drag Race royalty Sasha Colby, and the unapologetically fierce Saucy Santana. And that’s just the start. You’ll catch electrifying sets from Kiesza, RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist Sam Star, Brooke Eden, and an army of world-class DJs like Ralphi Rosario, Alex Acosta, Danny Verde, Joe Gauthreaux, Jesus Montanez, Sam Gee, J Warren, and Ron Carroll — plus daily drag performances featuring legends like Mimi Marks, Mz Ruff n Stuff, DiDa Ritz, and Veronica Pop.

🎤 Local favorites? Oh, they’re here too. Get ready to scream-sing with Sixteen Candles, dance your heart out with Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute, and lose yourself to the chaos of Too Much Molly Band.

💎 New for 2025: Gold & Platinum VIP Experiences. Gold gets you a private lounge, A/C restrooms, bar service, and in/out access for just $50. Platinum turns it up — all that plus six free drinks for $100.

📅 Festival Hours:

• Friday, August 8: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• Saturday & Sunday, August 9–10: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

💵 Entry: $20 suggested donation per day — fueling the performers, event crews, and year-round community programs.

For over four decades, Market Days has been the beating heart of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ summer, turning Halsted Street between Addison and Belmont into a kaleidoscope of music, fashion, and fearless self-expression. Whether you’re here for the beats, the drag, the street food, or just the unapologetic joy, this is the weekend Chicago doesn’t just turn up — it blows the roof off.

A Living Monument to Creativity

Nestled along Michigan Avenue in the heart of the Loop, the Fine Arts Building isn’t just another historic Chicago structure—it’s a time capsule that still pulses with life. Built in 1885 and reimagined in the 1890s as a haven for artists, this nine-story Gothic Revival beauty has been home to everyone from poets and painters to tuba players and ballet dancers.

Step inside, and you’ll hear it before you see it.

Sopranos belt high notes that rattle the chandeliers. Violinists bleed melodies into the walls. Piano keys crash like waves. A lone tuba growls through “Ride of the Valkyries” while the clank of manually-operated elevators provides a steady percussion. This isn’t staged. This is the real show.

In his immersive new book, Chicago’s Fine Arts Building, celebrated author and tenant Keir Graff peels back the curtain on this cultural powerhouse. With a foreword from Gillian Flynn (yes, Gone Girl Gillian Flynn), the book chronicles the building’s rise, fall, and rebirth—from its artistic boom in the early 20th century to its slow fade during the Great Depression, and now, its revitalized purpose.

Graff had an all-access pass. He interviewed current tenants, sifted through dusty archives, and uncovered rare artifacts and photographs that paint a full picture of what makes the Fine Arts Building more than just bricks and limestone. It’s a creative ecosystem, alive with friction, harmony, and artistic chaos.

Other landmarks in Chicago may have cleaner restorations or flashier tours, but none match the raw, untamed authenticity of the Fine Arts Building. For more than 130 years, it has served the same mission: to give artists, makers, and dreamers a place to do their work—and maybe bump into someone else doing the same.

From violin makers carving wood in near silence to dancers pounding out rhythms above them, the building remains a vertical village of expression. In a time when creatives are often priced out of downtowns, this building holds firm: a sanctuary where the muse still roams free.

What makes the Fine Arts Building stand apart? It hasn’t been frozen in time. It’s been used. It’s been battered, rebuilt, and loved by generations of Chicago’s most passionate artists. Its value isn’t in its ornate windows or historic elevators (though they’re undeniably cool)—it’s in the way it continues to hum, shout, and sing with purpose.

As Graff writes, “Whatever comes easily in the arts?”

Not this place.

That’s why it matters.

Whether you’re an art lover, a history buff, or just someone searching for the soul of Chicago, Keir Graff’s Chicago’s Fine Arts Building is essential reading. And if you’ve never stepped inside the building itself? Go. Listen closely. You’ll hear more than echoes—you’ll hear art still being made.

Keir Graff Tells the Story from the InsideWhy It Still Matters TodayNot Just Preserved—Lived InExplore the Book, Experience the Building

Chicago, get ready to crank up the volume and raise a glass—Taste of Lincoln Avenue is back for its 41st year, and this isn’t your average neighborhood street fest. Set in the bustling heart of the Lincoln Park/DePaul neighborhood, the iconic summer celebration returns July 25–26, transforming 2500 N. Lincoln Avenue, between Fullerton and Wrightwood, into a full-blown sensory experience.

This isn’t just a food fest—it’s a four-in-one cultural mashup. Picture this: the boldest flavors from local restaurants, spirits tastings that’ll knock your socks off, live bands that bring the funk, the rock, and everything in between, plus a family-friendly carnival that turns the weekend into a playground for all ages.

Hungry festivalgoers can dig into dishes from some of Chicago’s neighborhood heroes, including Paula’s Thai Kitchen, Medi Kitchen + Cocktail, Sapori Trattoria, Tandoor Charhouse, and Butcher and the Bear. These aren’t your average vendors—they’re the flavor architects of Lincoln Park, ready to serve street food with soul.

The real buzz, though, comes from the whiskey and spirits experiences. On Friday, July 25, from 5 to 8 p.m., you can indulge in the Taste of Lincoln Avenue Spirits Tasting. For just $22, sample over 16 varieties of vodka, tequila, and bourbon—then ride that warm glow straight to the main stage, where the music will be kicking into high gear.

But if you’re a serious whiskey head, Saturday, July 26, is where the action’s at. From 3 to 5 p.m. or 6 to 8 p.m., the fest hosts “Whiskies on Lincoln – A Midwest Tasting Event,” featuring curated samples from some of the Midwest’s best distilleries. And guess who’s behind it? Delilah’s Chicago, the city’s legendary punk-meets-whiskey dive, voted Bar of the Year at the 2019 Icons of Whiskey Awards. The price is just $22 in advance or $25 at the door—and for that, you’re tasting greatness.

Not to be outdone, Saturday morning also goes to the dogs—literally. At 11 a.m., the annual Taste of Lincoln Avenue Dog Parade brings four-legged fashionistas to the spotlight. It’s free, it’s adorable, and it’s one of the most beloved traditions of the fest. Register your pup and strut that tail down Lincoln Avenue like it’s a runway.

For families, the fun doesn’t stop. The Kids Area is alive all weekend with inflatable bounce houses, arts and crafts stations, and classic carnival games. It’s all the joy of a summer fair with the energy of the big city.

And of course, no Chicago festival is complete without a killer soundtrack. As the sun sets, the stages come alive with a lineup of live bands across multiple genres—from indie grooves to classic rock to funk that’ll get your feet moving. Whether you’re sipping whiskey, chasing your kid through the carnival, or dancing in the streets, the vibe is electric and the memories are guaranteed.

So mark your calendars. This isn’t just another summer weekend—it’s Taste of Lincoln Avenue, and it’s where Chicago comes alive.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

Celebrate Pride Month at the Leather Archives & Museum—a powerful, one-of-a-kind destination in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood that honors the legacy and culture of the LGBTQ+ leather and kink communities. Founded in 1991 by Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase, this nonprofit institution is dedicated to preserving the history of leather, fetish, BDSM, and alternative sexual expression.

As Pride Month shines a spotlight on diverse identities and sexualities, the Leather Archives & Museum offers a meaningful, educational, and inclusive experience for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Its collections span the globe and include:

A research library with books, magazines, scholarly publications, films, and digital media focused on kink, fetishism, and alternative lifestyles.

• A museum collection featuring original erotic art and rare artifacts from individuals and organizations rooted in alternative sex culture.
• An extensive archive of personal papers, photographs, and records from iconic activists, artists, and businesses within the kink and LGBTQ+ communities.

Whether you’re celebrating Pride in Chicago or visiting year-round, the Leather Archives & Museum offers a safe, respectful, and educational environment to explore the rich and often overlooked narratives of queer and kink history.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

🌮 Let’s taco ‘bout one of the tastiest weekends in Chicago!

The Chicago Taco & Tequila Fest is bringing the heat (and the flavor) to Wrightwood Park in Lincoln Park Friday and Saturday, June 27–28. This two-day fiesta is loaded with mouthwatering tacos from over 10 of Chicagoland’s best vendors, plus live music on two stages, a tequila tasting experience, and margarita flights if you’re feeling festive.

📍 Location: Wrightwood Park, 2555 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago

📅 Dates:

Friday, June 27 – 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Saturday, June 28 – 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM

🎶 Sip, Savor & Salsa

From Carnitas Roldan to Tandoor Char House to Prime Tacos, this lineup of authentic and eclectic taco spots is serious. Grab a plate (or five) from vendors like Caseras Food Truck, Blue Agave, La Cocina del Carmelita, Delicias Tacos, and more. And while you’re munching, enjoy the sounds of local and regional acts performing all weekend long.

🌟 Proceeds benefit the Wrightwood Neighbors Association and WAPAC – two incredible volunteer-run organizations that work year-round to uplift and improve the neighborhood. So yes, you can eat tacos for a good cause.

👉 Learn more and snag your tickets: chicagoevents.com

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

Red Bull Dance Your Style, the world’s largest all-styles street dance competition, is back for its 2025 season—bringing high-energy freestyle battles to the Midwest with a City Qualifier in Chicago and a Regional Qualifier in Kansas City. This unique event challenges dancers to showcase their skills in hip hop, house, locking, popping, and more—all to unpredictable tracks that range from current chart-toppers to throwback classics. In this crowd-judged format, it’s the audience who decides who advances.

The Chicago City Qualifier hits the Museum of Contemporary Art on June 28, setting the stage for Midwest talent to shine in the heart of downtown. Known for its cutting-edge programming and bold artistic vision, the MCA provides the perfect backdrop for a dance battle unlike any other. From there, the action moves to Kansas City on July 26, where the Regional Qualifier takes place in collaboration with streetwear powerhouse Made Mobb.

The winner of the Chicago qualifier earns a coveted spot at the Kansas City Regional, moving one step closer to representing the Midwest at the first-ever U.S.-hosted World Final in Los Angeles on October 11.

Between these two dynamic cities, dancers will bring the heat with their signature styles—drawing influence from local legends like Chicago Footwork and the Kansas City Two-Step, reinterpreted through their personal expression.

One familiar face returning to the floor is Kid Nimbus, a three-time Red Bull Dance Your Style finalist and Chicago-based ambassador. Nimbus captured the Chicago title in 2021, took runner-up in 2022, and earned a wild card for the 2024 National Final.

Don’t miss your chance to experience these electrifying dance showdowns live:

🎟️ Chicago Tickets: rbdyschicago2025.eventbrite.com

And be sure to support Nico Rubio, a standout Chicago competitor entering in the second slot! A tap dancer, teacher, and DJ repping @ShuffleLiiife, @333Taps, Palo Sonto, and Sour Apples Crew, Nico brings rhythm, passion, and artistry to the floor.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.