Our Mission
Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, each with its own rhythm. But finding out what’s actually happening near you is surprisingly hard. The big event platforms surface the stadium shows and arena tours — but miss the library story hour, the block party three blocks over, the park district yoga class, and the pop-up market in the lot down the street.
Chicago Local Events exists to fix that. We aggregate event listings from 7+ local sources across the city — the Chicago Public Library, Chicago Park District, OEMC special events, cultural departments, neighborhood associations, and more — and surface them all in one place.
How it works
Events are collected automatically from public data sources, normalized into a consistent format, and published as a clean, fast, static site. No login required. No tracking. No algorithmic feed. Just a calendar of what’s happening in Chicago.
What we source
- Chicago Public Library — branch events, story times, workshops
- Chicago Park District — park programs, sports, fitness classes
- OEMC Special Events — parades, street festivals, film permits
- Loop Chicago — downtown events, cultural programming
- Timeout Chicago — concerts, nightlife, special events
- Choose Chicago — tourist-facing events and festivals
- Eventbrite — local ticketed events across categories
- Chicago on the Cheap — free and budget-friendly events
Our values
- Complete. We don’t cherry-pick. If it’s in a public source, it goes in the index.
- Indexable. Every page is static HTML with Schema.org markup. No JavaScript required.
- Free. No paywalls, no registration, no tracking.
- Local-first. We prioritize neighborhood and community events, not just major attractions.
Have feedback or know of a source we should add? Get in touch.