Glenwood Avenue (Mobile) Arts Fest

The popular Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest (GAAF) returns to Rogers Park for its 19th year in a new format to comply with COVID-19 safety guidelines prohibiting large public gatherings. This year on Saturday and Sunday, August 15 and 16, 2020, the festival becomes the Glenwood Avenue (Mobile) Arts Fest, taking place as four two-hour tours of the streets of Rogers Park surrounding the Glenwood Avenue Arts District at Glenwood and Morse Avenues.

Local musicians including the Urban Rhythm Band and the Joyce Renee Walker Band will perform live on a mobile stage along with large-scale video screens showcasing GAAF artists’ works, which will be available in “booths” in a corresponding virtual festival. Brief stops along the GAAF mobile tour routes will allow residents to enjoy art and music at a safe distance along the sidewalks and from the windows of their homes. The festival encourages the community to support local artists and businesses within the Glenwood Avenue Arts District in Rogers Park.

The Glenwood Avenue (Mobile) Arts Fest takes place on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. and Sunday, August 16 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Chicago Bluesmobile will travel the festival route on Friday, Aug. 14 from 6-9 p.m. for a festive kickoff. Festival tour maps and the virtual festival layout linking to artists’ booths will be available by Monday, Aug. 10 at http://www.glenwoodave.org.

The Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest is a free, weekend-long street arts fair usually enjoyed by an estimated 15,000 visitors annually. GAAF has included more than 120 artist-vendors and two outdoor stages featuring more than 30 acts of live entertainment. For nearly two decades, visitors have experienced fine art and crafts, music, live demonstrations, and local food and drink on the cobblestone streets of the Glenwood Avenue Arts District in Chicago’s historic Rogers Park neighborhood.