Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime!

Everyone loves Chicago in the summertime. The snow has melted, the flowers are blooming, and there are festivals and farmers markets to enjoy. Here's a list of some of the cool things that are happening in the Oak Park area this summer. What is on your summer schedule?

July:

• Thursday, the 3rd - Saturday, the 19th - "Hamlet", Performed by the Oak Park Festival Theatre
• Time and location: Thursday-Saturday 8:00pm/Sunday 7:00pm, Austin Gardens, 167 Forest Avenue
• About: Oak Park Festival Theatre is a professional theater company working under contract with Actors’ Equity Association, producing the works of William Shakespeare as they were meant to be staged – as thrilling, living, popular theater, al fresco in pastoral Austin Gardens to augment the imagery and poetry of the Bard’s English language
• Cost: $27/person

• Monday, the 14th - Competitive Foot Hosts its Last Fun Run 
• Time and location: 6:30-8:00pm, The Competitive Foot, 102 N Marion St.
• About: Bring your friends, family, friends to the LAST FUN RUN at "the Foot" with the Oak Park Runner's Club - store closes for the final time on Sunday, July 20th
• Cost: Free!

• The Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor’s 2014 Trough Eating Contest
• Time and location: 7:00pm at The Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor, 7347 W. Madison St. in Forest Park
• About: Teams of three will attempt to eat “The Trough” (a giant 21 scoop sundae) in the fastest time possible
• Cost: $45 entry fee

• Thursday, the 17th - Saturday, the 19th - 40th Anniversary Community Open House
• Time and location: 5:00-8:00pm, 951 Chicago Ave
• About: The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is celebrating the anniversary of the first public tour at the Home and Studio, which took place on July 17, 1974, and is offering the free tours as a way to thank the community and share a world-class museum in its own backyard
• Cost: Free to all residents of Oak Park and River Forest

• Saturday, the 19th - A Night in Hemingway's Paris: The 2014 Hemingway Birthday Celebration
• Time and location: 7:00-10:00pm, 137 N. Oak Park Avenue
• About: Hemingway's Paris takes over the Scoville Square Building with cocktails, French delicacies, live music, readings from Hemingway's Paris letters by Sandra Spanier, editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, and a pop-up exhibit of never-before-shown clothing and artifacts from the Hemingway Archives
• Cost: $25/person (includes weekend admission to the Hemingway Birthplace and Museum, both open for tours Saturday, July 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, July 20 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.)

• Thursday, the 24th - Friday, the 25th - Previews of "The Importance of Being Earnest"
• Time and location 8:00pm, Austin Gardens, 167 Forest Avenue
• About: See above
• Cost: $20/person

• Friday, the 25th - Uncorked at the Oak Park Conservatory (Also on Friday, August 22nd and Friday, September 26th)
• Time and location: 6:00-8:00pm, 615 Garfield St.
• About: Join the Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory for the summer series "The Oak Park Conservatory Uncorked."  Attendees can enjoy drinks, food, showcase tours, music, art and much more.
• Cost: $15/person

August:

• Friday, the 1st - Saturday, the 2nd - 44th Annual Book Fair
• Time and location: Friday's fair hours are 6:00-10:00pm/Saturday's fair hours are 9:00-5:00pm), south cafeteria at Oak Park and River Forest High School, 201 N. Scoville Ave.
• About: The fair typically offers more than 100,000 books in every conceivable category. Many materials sold at the fair are donated by the general public. With funds raised, the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library continue a tradition that benefits and engages all of Oak Park.
• Cost: Friday - $5/person, Saturday - Free!

• Tuesday, the 5th - ART DANS LA RUE 2014
• Time and location: Noon-9:00pm, Marion Street, between Lake and North Blvd.
• About:Savor art, food, wine, music, dance and all things authentically European without stepping foot on a plane at Downtown Oak Park’s Street Art Festival
• Cost: Free!

• Saturday, the 16th - Oak Park Microbrew and Food Review 
• Time and location: 3:00-7:00pm, Marion Street, downtown Oak Park
• About: Sample tastings from more than 90 craft beers from 30 Midwestern microbreweries, purchase food from local restaurateurs and groove to the sounds of local bands at this zero-waste event
• Cost: $45: General Admission, $60: ReplicAle, $100 VIP

On-Going Events

• Thursdays - Thursday Night Out in Downtown Oak Park
• Time and location: 5:00-9:00pm, Lake and Marion, downtown Oak Park
• About: More than 20 Downtown Oak Park restaurants offer a variety of drinks, appetizers, entrees and desserts on the TNO menu and allow diners to eat inside or carry out. Tables are also set up outside for patrons to enjoy live entertainment while dining al fresco.
• Cost: $12 ticket booklets contain 4 dine-around tickets. Each booklet contains 4 dine-around tickets and one voucher for $2.50 off two adult priced movie tickets. One dine-around ticket is good for one item off the Thursday Night Out menu — menu changes monthly. For every two ticket booklets purchased, customers receive one complimentary $5 DTOP gift certificate good at over 25 participating stores on Thursday evenings during the TNO season.

• Saturdays - Oak Park Farmer's Market
• Time and location: 7:00-1:00pm, Pilgrim Church Parking lot at 460 Lake St (every Saturday from May 24 through Nov. 1, 2014)
• About: The market is a step back into simpler times . . . buying things from the farmers who grow them, surrounded by the sounds of live bluegrass music, the smell of fresh, homemade donuts and an incredible variety of nature's bounty
• Cost: Free!