Grave Digger is part of the monster truck lineup and competitions at Monster Jam in Rosemont Sept. 15-17, 2023. (Feld Entertainment)
This weekend is the Englewood Jazz Festival, Riot Fest, Mexican Independence Day Parade and, with arts and entertainment of all kinds, monster trucks in Rosemont.
Englewood Jazz Festival
On Tribune critic Hannah Edgar’s list of top jazz events for fall, the lineup includes saxophonist Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few, vibraphonist Joel Ross, trumpeters Marques Carroll and Sean Jones, and guitarist Jeff Parker with the New Horizons Ensemble Delmark Allstars.
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Sept. 15-16 at Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72nd St.; free, more information at englewoodjazzfest.org
Monster Jam
As the old “Sunday! Sunday!” monster truck commercials used to like to say, they’ll sell you the whole seat but you’ll only use the edge. Monster Jam is coming to the Allstate Arena this weekend, with Pit Party fan experiences before the Saturday and Sunday events. Freestyle, skills and racing competitions between Grave Digger, El Toro Loco, Megalodon, ThunderROARus and more.
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Sept. 15-17 at Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Manheim Road, Rosemont; tickets from $20 at www.monsterjam.com
Ballet folklorico dancer Yaritza Guzman, 12, dances in the 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade on Sept. 9, 2018. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade
This year’s parade falls on the actual date of Mexican Independence Day. The parade’s theme of “Tu Mexico, Tu Chicago” will focus on Mexican identity and culture. The parade, which will include bright floats, mariachi bands and folkloric dancing, begins at the Little Village Arch on 26th Street and Albany Avenue and will go down 26th Street to Kostner Avenue.
Parade starts at noon Sept. 16 in Little Village, 3100 W 26th St.; free, more information at chicagoevents.com
Ravenswood ArtWalk
This event celebrates the creativity and community of Ravenswood, with open studios and galleries, pop-up performances and an outdoor arts market with more than 60 local creators. There will also be activities for children, music stages, food trucks, and a beer garden.
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 16-17 in the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor on Ravenswood Avenue from Lawrence to Irving Park Road; free, more information at ravenswoodchicago.org
Riot Fest
The annual Chicago-owned and run music festival is back in Douglass Park, with headliners including Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and The Cure.
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 15-17 in Douglass Park, enter at the intersection of Ogden Avenue and Sacramento Drive; tickets from $104.98 at riotfest.org
Fans walk through Douglass Park during the first day of Riot Fest Sept. 16 2021, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Latino Dance Festival
The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago is presenting the first Chicago Latino Dance Festival. The event, which is spread across four days, spotlights Iberoamerican dance and will include 37 Chicago-area groups that specialize in Puerto Rican bomba and plena, Brazilian samba, flamenco, Belizean punta, Haitian traditional, Chilean cueca, indigenous dances from the Quechua, Purepecha and Zapotec nations, tango and contemporary dance.
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Sept. 17, Sept. 23, Sept. 30 and Oct. 12 at various venues; admission is free but reservations are encouraged, more information at latinoculturalcenter.org
Oktoberfest at the Zoo
Start off the fall season with this new adults-only beer fest. If beer isn’t your thing, there will also be wine, cocktails, seltzers and nonalcoholic options to enjoy with food like pretzels and bratwurst. Musical performers include the German polka band Die Musikmeisters and a DJ playing party hits.
Sept. 16 at Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 N. Clark St.; tickets $25-$35 (ages 21+) at eventbrite.com
Ron Funches
The West Coast comic spent his early years in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. His voice work has been all over movies and TV (“Trolls,” “BoJack Horseman”) and his stand-up tour is bringing him to the Den Theatre in Wicker Park.
Sept. 15-16 at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.; tickets from $34 (two-drink minimum) at 773-697-3830 and thedentheatre.com
Art on the Mart
The riverfront display has two new projections for fall, from Yiyun Kang and a return of videos by Charles Atlas, launching this weekend and playing nightly until mid-November.
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7:30 p.m. nightly through Nov. 15, best viewed from the Riverwalk on Wacker Drive between Wells Street and Franklin Street; more information at artonthemart.com