October 2025
Thank You for an amazing Journey Chicago!
And what a Journey it was! With 13 events during the month of October, we visited 11 neighborhoods, 7 museums, and 2 festivals. Our Journey took us to studios, institutes, forest preserves, a botanic garden, and a zoo.
With over 2,200 attendees over the month of October, this was our most successful Journey to date, and we thank you all for exploring cross-cultural events with us and supporting this annual festival.
Please keep an eye on our newsletter, Culture Around the City, for upcoming member events, film, exhibitions, live music, and more.
Click the picture below and relive the excitement, beauty, and moments of sharing from this year’s Journey Chicago series.
We want to hear from you!
Help us continue to present quality cultural programs by sharing your thoughts! Click the button below to complete a short 3-minute survey about this year’s Journey Chicago series.
Saturday, October 4 - Mid-Autumn Festival
CCA Collaborators: Chinese American Museum of Chicago & Field Museum.
Other Collaborators: Chicago Park District, The Nature Conservancy, & Mond(e)
Location: Set in Stone Gathering Space in the Burnham Wildlife Corridor
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025 – 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Admission: FREE
Get ready for an evening celebrating the Harvest Moon with music, live performances, delicious mooncakes, bubble tea, a native plant giveaway, archery, a lantern procession down the lake, astronomical moon viewing, and much more! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn and join us for this important holiday in the Chinese diaspora and all over Asia celebrating friends and family! This event is outdoors, family-friendly, free, and open to the public. RSVP for free shuttles to the festival, picking up from in front of the Chinatown Chicago Public Library.
This event is organized by CAMOC in partnership with the Roots & Routes Initiative, Chicago Park District, The Nature Conservancy, & Mond(e)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mid-autumn-festival-2025-tickets-1665486247199
Saturday, October 4 - Reiki: Healing Through Cultural Practices
CCA Collaborators: Haitian American Museum of Chicago and Joel Hall Dancers & Center
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025 – 12PM-1PM.
Admission: FREE
Event Description: Experience deep rest and renewal with Haitian American healer Sun Calixte. This workshop blends guided meditation, sound healing, and aromatherapy with the sacred Haitian practice of laying of hands—similar to Reiki, yet rooted in ancestral tradition.
https://www.joelhall.org/events/reiki-healing-with-hamoc-and-journey-chicago
Wednesday, October 8 - Calligraphic Journeys through the Beauty of Islamic Art
Collaborators: Seldon Institute & Heritage Museum of Asian Art
Location: 5659 S Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL. 60637
Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Event Description: Seldon Institute and the Heritage Museum of Asian Art invite you to an immersive journey across the vast geography where Islamic Calligraphy has flourished—from North Africa to the Far East.
Saturday, October 11 - Zoo Fiesta
CCA Collaborators: Lincoln Park Zoo, Center of Peruvian Arts, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, & Casa Michoacan.
Location: Lincoln Park Zoo, 2001 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60614
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025
Admission: $20
Zoo Fiesta: Delight in the animals, cultures, and conservation efforts of Latin America at Zoo Fiesta! A play on “su fiesta,” Zoo Fiesta is a 21+ event celebrating Latinx and Afro-Latino cultures and communities. Enjoy free cultural performances, live music, and chats highlighting animals native to Central and South America.
https://www.lpzoo.org/event/zoo-fiesta
Saturday, October 11 - From Fika to Fuji: Bridging Sweden and Japan
CCA Collaborators: Swedish American Museum & Chicago Japanese American Historical Society.
Location: Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60640
Date: Saturday, October 11
Admission: FREE
What do Japanese and Swedish culture have in common? More than you might think! Through craft workshops, cooking demonstrations, and more, the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society and the Swedish American Museum will come together to explore how various decorative, culinary, and textile elements are traditionally used in both cultures.
https://mnet.swedishamericanmuseum.org/index.php/product/34593
Saturday October 18 - Stitching Stories: Asia from East to West
CCA Collaborators: Heritage Museum of Asian Art & Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education.
Location: Heritage Museum of Asian Art, 3500 S Morgan St, 3F, Chicago, IL, 60609
Date: Saturday, October 18
Admission: FREE / $15
As part of Journey Chicago, Open House Chicago and Chicago Fashion Week, the Heritage Museum of Asian Art presents a two-part program highlighting the richness and complexity of Asian textile traditions spanning East Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. From October 9–19, a pop-up exhibition—organized with the Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education and Japanese Culture Center—will showcase embroidery, fabric folding, and garment making as expressions of identity and storytelling. On October 18–19, hands-on workshops will invite the public to engage directly with these diverse practices.
Saturday October 18 - The Taste & Experience of Ukraine and Lithuania
Collaborators: Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art & Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
Location: Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2025
Event Description: Exploring hands on art activities from the Ukrainian and Lithuanian cultures — including glass paining and egg painting. There will also be a cooking demo and tasting of various styles of food from each culture.
Saturday October 18 - Family Album Day
Collaborators: Puerto Rican Arts Alliance & Bronzeville Historical Society
Location: Puerto Rican Arts Alliance
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2025
Event Description: Your family’s past is part of our collective history! Family Album Day. Bring your old family photos and albums to help preserve the stories of migration, home, and cultural identity. Professional archivists and curators will be on-site to review photographs, listen to your family’s migration journey, and select meaningful images for inclusion in El Archivo Project, PRAA’s digital archive documenting Puerto Rican life in the Midwest. This initiative ensures that our community’s stories and experiences are preserved and rooted in community institutions for future generations. Let’s preserve our roots—one photograph at a time!
Sunday October 19 - Stitching Stories: Asia from East to West
CCA Collaborators: Heritage Museum of Asian Art & Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education.
Location: Heritage Museum of Asian Art, 3500 S Morgan St, 3F, Chicago, IL, 60609
Date: Sunday, October 19
Admission: FREE / $15
As part of Journey Chicago, Open House Chicago and Chicago Fashion Week, the Heritage Museum of Asian Art presents a two-part program highlighting the richness and complexity of Asian textile traditions spanning East Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. From October 9–19, a pop-up exhibition—organized with the Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education and Japanese Culture Center—will showcase embroidery, fabric folding, and garment making as expressions of identity and storytelling. On October 18–19, hands-on workshops will invite the public to engage directly with these diverse practices.
Sunday October 19 - Western Classical Strings Meet Traditional Peruvian Arts
CCA Collaborators: Crossing Borders Music & Center of Peruvian Arts
Location: Budlong Woods Branch, Chicago Public Library, 5630 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60659
Date: Sunday, October 19
Admission: FREE
The program will be an Afro-Peruvian dance and music interactive workshop and mini-performance by Center for the Peruvian Arts and a mini-performance by Crossing Borders Music and tenor Luis Galvez that also shares cultural information. The program will explore Indigenous and Afro-Peruvian cultural expressions and also how Peruvian composers used those traditions in songs and music for string quartet.
Please note, the name of this event has changed to: Cuerdas y Cuerpos: Afro-Peruvian Culture Meets Western Strings
“Cuerdas y Cuerpos: Afro-Peruvian Culture Meets Western Strings”
Thursday October 23 - Homerathon
Collaborators: National Hellenic Museum, Polish Museum of America, Instituto Cervantes, T.G. Masayrk Czech School, DANK Haus, and others.
Location: National Hellenic Museum
Date: Thursday, October 23 and Friday, October 24, 2025
Homerathon is a reading of Homer’s Odyssey in its entirety. People are encouraged to read parts of the poem in other languages. Games and activities are offered as part of the event.
Friday October 24 - Homerathon
Collaborators: National Hellenic Museum, Polish Museum of America, Instituto Cervantes, T.G. Masayrk Czech School, DANK Haus, and others
Location: National Hellenic Museum
Date:Thursday, October 23 and Friday, October 24, 2025
Homerathon is a reading of Homer’s Odyssey in its entirety. People are encouraged to read parts of the poem in other languages. Games and activities are offered as part of the event.
Friday, October 24 - Isla Sabor: A Taste of Caribbean Connection
CCA Collaborators: Haitian American Museum of Chicago, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, and Dominican American Midwest Association
Location: Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, 3000 North Elbridge Avenue Chicago, IL 60618
Date: Friday, October 24, 2025
Admission: $12.51
Through food, beverage and history, celebrate the Caribbean by learning about the uniqueness and similarities of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti. This event will highlight the indigenous Taino people and their foundational role
within the islands. Cultural food and beverages served.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/isla-sabor-a-taste-of-caribbean-connection-tickets-1657694692449
Saturday, October 25 - International Game Day
Collaborators: Chicago Cultural Alliance, Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago, Heritage Museum of Asian Art, Japanese American Service Committee, ROCO Chicago, and More!
Location: Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Rd, Glencoe, IL 60022
Date: Saturday October 25, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Admission: Normal Chicago Botanic Garden admission and parking prices apply. Please see HERE for pricing.
Chicago Cultural Alliance’s International Game Day will represent a wide collection of culturally significant games ranging from Chinese Mahjong to Romanian Castel (9 pietre). Participants will enjoy a hands-on experience while learning about heritage practices through game play and social activities.
Wednesday, October 29 - Bridging Worlds: Ukrainian & Indonesian Stories on Stage
Collaborators: Friends of the Gamelan & Ukrainian National Museum
Location: Ukrainian National Museum, 2249 W Superior St, Chicago, IL 60612
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 6:30PM – 7:30PM
Stories have the power to make us laugh, cry, hope, and grow wiser. Across
cultures—from Ukraine to Indonesia—stories connect us through shared themes
of passion, history, and humor. Friends of the Gamelan and the Ukrainian National
Museum are proud to present a concert of traditional music that brings these stories
to life through vibrant sounds and rhythms of their countries’ traditional instruments.
Families of all ages are invited to enjoy this hour-long performance filled with beauty,
meaning, and delight.
Become an Event Sponsor & Show Your Support for Cultural Programs
Journey Chicago is a month-long series of cross-cultural events that is run by the Chicago Cultural Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We rely on event sponsors and donors to help cover the costs of artist fees, performing arts groups, venue rental expenses, promotional costs, and the many other expenses that make this festival a reality. Click the button below to learn more about this year’s Journey Chicago sponsorship tiers and sponsor benefits. Thank you for supporting cultural programs in your neighborhood!
Lead Sponsor - $10,000
- Prominent acknowledgment on Journey Chicago webpage and printed materials.
- Dedicated posts on CCA social media.
- Verbal recognition during Journey Chicago events.
- Premium Journey Chicago-themed gift
Cultural Advocate - $5,000
- Prominent acknowledgment on Journey Chicago webpage and printed materials.
- Dedicated posts on CCA social media.
- Journey Chicago-themed gift.
cultural ally - $2,500
- Prominent acknowledgment on Journey Chicago webpage and printed materials.
- Journey Chicago-themed gift.
cultural supporter - $1,000
- Prominent acknowledgment on Journey Chicago webpage and printed materials.
Participating Members
heritage,
performance,
& collaboration
Journey Chicago offers Chicagoans and visitors a cultural journey through all of its arts, conversation, and food in a multi-event festival happening across 45 neighborhood-based cultural heritage institutions, all Members of the Chicago Cultural Alliance.
Journey Chicago is one of the signature programs of the Alliance. It is a festival of intercultural art, ideas, and performance at neighborhood and suburban heritage institutions. It is the first and only intercultural festival of its kind that highlights the rich diversity across Chicagoland and promotes cultural and community understanding.
View the Slideshow Below for Past Journeys
what to
expect &
experience
Journey Chicago is a series of events taking place throughout the month of October at cultural heritage centers across the city’s neighborhoods and suburbs. All events are open to the public, and all are free or low-cost.
Journey Chicago represents one of the most important values of the Chicago Cultural Alliance: creating collaborative programming that fosters communication between cultures. That’s why every Journey Chicago event has been organized by two or more Members of the CCA working together to share their music, art, dance, stories, food, and cultural resources with you.
is made possible by support from:
