Things to do in Chicago this weekend (Oct 23–25)

A focused retrospective in Washington Park tracing how African American writers, sculptors, and painters forged creative liberation and international fellowship in 20th-century Paris.

Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos brings coal-fired cooking to this British-influenced tavern, serving smoked ember oysters, bone-in swordfish, and hand-pulled cask ales beside a crackling hearth.

An interactive, after-hours escape room puzzle game played throughout the Griffin MSI exhibits, centered on decoding clues to reboot a secret clean power grid.

A massive two-acre corn maze, thousands of illuminated pumpkins, axe-throwing lanes, and seasonal cider trucks pop up in the center of industrial Goose Island for the fall run.

Chefs Zubair Mohajir and Jacob Dela weave Indian and Filipino culinary heritages together over charcoal grills—think spiced goat biryani, garlic vinegar-drizzled duck, and South Indian red rice.

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi bring their searing 12-piece American blues, rock, and soul ensemble to the historic Chicago Theatre stage.

Over 100,000 spectators gather along Columbus Drive as illuminated floats, giant spectacle puppets, and mariachi and circus troupes parade beneath the city skyline.

A brisk autumn night calls for this snug 30-year-old French bistro: steamy pots of French onion soup, roasted duck leg with spätzle, and a carafe of red wine packed along red checkered tablecloths.

Hike through 18 sandstone gorges blanketed in gold and russet foliage, warm up with apple cider donuts in historic Utica, and finish with a hearty supper in the 1930s Great Hall lodge.