
So much to do, so little time!
We’ve been treated to a snowy, Siberian start to February, but who thought it would be any different? Though the shortest month of the year February can feel like the longest due to its frigid weather. It is, however, a month packed with events. Valentine’s Day, Black History Month, Lunar New Year, and Mardi Gras – with so much going on this month you’d think it’d be longer than 28 days!
Read on to discover the very best that Chicago has in store this February for restaurants, bars, experiences, and more! Here is a list of fun February activities to keep your spirits up and your souls happy.
1. See the largest official interactive ‘The Office’ experience in Chicago
While the outdoors can be hostile this time of the year, the winter months are a great time to enjoy Chicago’s vast array of indoor exhibitions and museums. Right now the largest official interactive The Office experience is taking place in Chicago and it has just been extended through Sunday, March 27! Fans of the long-running hit series can immerse themselves in the world of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and celebrate their favorite characters and iconic moments from the hit show.
The interactive two-story experience features 17 rooms filled with original props, costumes, set re-creations, and more. Celebrating the series’ major characters and timeless charm there are photo ops at places like Pam’s desk, Michael’s office, Ryan’s closet, Schrute Farms and others as well as a themed retail store replicating the Warehouse!
More information and tickets can be found here.
2-7. Be captivated by a Candlelight Concert
Chicago’s sublime Candlelight Concert series offers breathtaking spectacles throughout the year but this February there are some extra special concerts taking place in extraordinary venues as well as tributes to Amy Winehouse, Taylor Swift and more. Flickering candles and melodic sounds combine phenomenally creating magnetic atmospheres in some of Chicago’s most unique spaces with surreal acoustics. Here are some of our favorite festive concerts taking place this month:
- Candlelight: Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and the Birth of Soul at Thalia Hall
- Candlelight Jazz: Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong at Stan Mansion
- Candlelight: A Tribute to Legendary Women of Jazz, Soul and R&B at Thalia Hall
- Candlelight: Songs from Magical Movie Soundtracks at Free Church
- Candlelight: Rock Classics on Strings at Salvage One
- Candlelight: Featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at the Wicker Park Lutheran Churc
See the full list of candlelight concerts taking place in Chicago here.
8. Enjoy an intimate live jazz show at Le Piano
When it comes to live music, few places offer a better jazz experience than Chicago. There are so many wonderful places to see live jazz in its rawest form here in the Windy City. Alongside esteemed venues like South Loop’s The Jazz Showcase, and Uptown’s Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, Le Piano has emerged as a phenomenal new jazz hideout.
In the middle of Le Piano sits a magnificent grand piano where some of Chicago’s most talented pianists and jazz performers come to play. Here you will find a mind-blowing musical experience merging dinner and intimate performances. Immersive Live Jazz & Dinner for Two and Immersive Live Jazz & Cocktails both ensure memorable nights of dining, drinking, and the magic of jazz in a truly vivacious venue.
Grab tickets for Immersive Live Jazz & Dinner for Two here and Immersive Live Jazz & Cocktails here.
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9. Marvel at musical masterpieces in a repurposed landmark church
The Sanctuary is one of three live concert venues at the brand-new Epiphany Center for the Arts, a historic venue located on the artsy edge of the West Loop.
Stepping inside the illustrious 19th-century national landmark is already an experience in itself. The fortress-like former church and its iconic bell tower have long towered above the West Loop skyline since it was first assembled back in 1885. What lies inside is a glorious architectural achievement with exposed beams and sweeping arched trusses. Add to that stained glass windows, vintage chandeliers, and a built-in stage complemented by a private Niche Bar and Lounge and you’ve got an incredible place to unwind after work with live music & drinks.
Despite being decommissioned and listed as permanently closed a decade ago, the venue’s heart now beats louder than ever before with an ongoing lineup of live performances that showcase the extraordinary acoustics found within. Truly one of the most unique settings to experience live music anywhere in Chicago.
Tickets to Live Music & Drinks in The Sanctuary can be purchased here.
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10. Unleash your inner artist at Epiphany Center for the Arts
Acoustic music series isn’t the only form of art taking place at Epiphany Center for the Arts this month. Thanks to a collaboration between Epiphany Center of the Arts, Studio W.I.P. and local Chicago artists, a new series of interactive street art workshops invites you to exercise your inner creativity and learn the ins and outs of urban art in Chicago.
Taking place most Fridays through winter at the iconic Epiphany Center of the Arts, anybody and everybody can be enlightened and educated by some of Chicago’s tried and tested street artists. These interactive street art workshops provide the perfect setting in which to nurture an interest in street art while simultaneously offering a fun and laid-back experience. With your own canvas, a selection of professional-grade spray paints, a library of stencils, and Epiphany Golden Hour food and drink specials, guests can learn the tricks of the trade with a spray can in one hand and a drink in the other!
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11. Peruse the magnificent street art murals of Chicago
If you’re needing some artistic inspiration you need not look far in the Windy City. The consequence of a thriving artistic community is not just a plethora of museums and stunning art installations. Today the street art and graffiti scene in Chicago is alive and kicking more than ever before with new pieces popping up all over the city every week. Some of these are so esteemed that they’ve embedded themselves in the very fabric of Chicago and are now part and parcel of the Windy City’s identity.
With more formality and respect from the local community street art has thrived in Chicago over the last decade and with the events of the last two years many, many, astounding new murals have gone up of late. Today murals do more than just provide an extraordinary spectacle for our eyes. They pay homage to icons, fight for racial equality, celebrate different heritages, and honor the essential workers of our societies during turbulent times.
The many masterpieces in our great city can be even more spectacular in the winter snow and an adventure hunting down the very best creations will always be always time well spent.
12-15. Check out the multitude of events taking place at Chicago’s newest speakeasy
If you head down to West Loop’s Grand Cabaret After Dark any Saturday this month you’ll find vintage evenings of cabaret, jazz, and magic in Chicago’s newest speakeasy followed by Peep Show Burlesque nights and then Boozy BBQ Drag Brunches on Sundays. All promise a mesmerizing experience in one of Chicago’s most exciting new venues.
Tickets and information for Grand Cabaret After Dark! can be found here.
Tickets and information for Peep Show Burlesque can be found here.
Tickets and information for Boozy BBQ Drag Brunch can be found here.
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16. Enjoy a drag brunch with bottomless beermosas
Drag brunches at Grand Cabaret are far from the only drag brunches taking place in Chicago this month. There’s no better way to enjoy a weekend than brunching with friends, especially when entertainment is involved. Which is why the all-new Chicago Drag Brunches at Twisted Hippo Brewery offer the ultimate Sunday Funday!
At Twisted Hippo Brewery’s Drag Brunches guests can choose from a range of delicious brunch options while enjoying 3 acts full of camp and sass starring Muffy Fishbasket and a rotating cast of Chicago’s Queens & Kings.
More information and tickets can be found here.
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17-19. Celebrate Valentine’s Day all month with a burlesque show
There is a variety of brilliant burlesque shows happening this month offering a Valentine’s date that you will never forget. From Newport Peek-Easy Burlesque Show and the Newport Theatre to Stripped Burlesque Valentine’s Edition and Decadent Valentine’s Burlesque Afterparty at West Loop’s Porkchop, you can catch some of Chicago’s finest burlesque, belly dance, drag, and variety entertainers perform whilst enjoying specialty cocktails with your loved one.
Tickets and information for Newport Peek-Easy Burlesque Show can be found here.
Tickets and information for Decadent Valentine’s Burlesque Afterparty can be found here.
Tickets and information for Stripped Burlesque Valentine’s Edition can be found here.
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20. Discover The Love Stories of Chicago

If you’re keen to go out and about despite the weather and your love for Chicago is bettered only by your love for your other half this might be the perfect date for you. On this exclusive tour together with a professional local guide, you will visit the most romantic places in the city and learn of the best places for dates, and where to take the most romantic photos. You will be surprised how many historical love stories are hidden in the streets, buildings, parks of the city. From heartbreaking and tragic tales to hilarious and spicy anecdotes, Guided Tour Love Stories of Chicago is a surefire way to have the romance resonating between you and your partner.
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21. Go snow tubing!
If you’re the type of person who gets excited about equipping yourself with snow boots and frolicking in the snow rather than one who hibernates through winter we’ve got an excellent February activity for you.
Chicago winters are brutal. Yet, the weather is nothing we don’t acclimatize to when we spend a day skiing or snowboarding. When you’re enjoying the exhilarating extreme activities that the snow provides all sense of the weather’s frigidness seems to disappear as adrenaline and joy take over. Getting out and exercising is good for the mind and body and we all definitely need that kind of lift in winter.
While skiing and snowboarding are more challenging winter activities to learn, snow tubing has quickly become one of the fastest-growing recreational winter activities and it is easy to see why. All you have to do is grab a tube, have a seat, and let gravity be your friend. Thanks to Sourced Adventures’ Chicago Snow Tubing & Brewery Bus, Chicagoans can now escape the downtown monotony and embrace the chill up at Wilmot Mountain with a 2-hour snow tubing session followed by a visit to a local brewery with dinner and round-trip transportation!
More information and tickets can be found here.
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22. Experience “alpine in the city” at Maggie Daley Park

Of all the February fun one of Chicago’s most iconic winter-time activities is ice skating in Maggie Daley park. The Maggie Daley ice rink offers an “alpine in the city” experience skating down a quarter-mile rink in the heart of Chicago. The winding ribbon of ice curves up and down around a 40-foot climbing wall with the city’s stunning skyline in the backdrop. It’s a must-do and now it’s also free Monday-Thursday in February if you bring your own skates!
24. Enjoy an axe throwing experience at Kanya Lounge’s adult playground
If you’ve had enough of the cold and that winter fun another exhilarating experience can be found down at Kanya Lounge’s exclusive 2-story adult playground. Five Axe Throwing Lanes allow you to test your inner lumberjack and blow off some steam while a Rage Room Experience offers 3 unique custom-made rage rooms providing the ultimate stress reliever after the torrid months we’ve had. Either way, signature cocktails and a bucket of beers can be enjoyed in the bar and lounge area while you’re at it.
More information and tickets can be found here.
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41. Warm-up and revitalize at Chicago’s most unique spa
These months are some of the most strenuous of the year, and February is one of the worst of them all. It’s around this time of the year that we need anything to lift our mind, body and sou and there’s no better place to relax and unwind during these hostile months than at AIRE’s Ancient Baths. Located inside a historic River West factory restored to its original splendor you can now find optimum relaxation within the exposed brick, wooden beams, and industrial columns of the building. Inspired by the traditional Roman, Greek, and Ottoman ancient experience of bathing, there is nowhere offering more peace of mind in the Windy City.
42. Treat yourself to a beer bath
Another unique spa option comes in the form of PIVA Beer Spa where guests can sink back into a huge larch wooden tub filled with near 100-degree beer, herbs, and hops. Whilst swearing that soaking in beer can have numerous benefits, PIVA Beer Spa provides a variety of services both beer-related and non-beer related from rejuvenating salt room experiences to luxury massages.
More information can be found here.
43. Visit the Shedd Aquarium for free in February
Activities in Chicago can get a little pricey at times but luckily there are also some free things to do! One of the places that consistently offers free experiences is the Shedd Aquarium. Last year the aquarium continuously treated Illinois residents to free admission days and they’re starting off 2022 with more of the same. An official press release on the Shedd Aquarium website last month announced that Illinois residents would be able to enjoy “free admission with all-inclusive access to the aquarium” for two weeks of February.
The free weeks will be from Monday to Friday from Monday, February 7th, and Monday, February 14th including Valentine’s Day!
Read the full article here.
44. Head to Chicago’s Field Museum on a Wednesday
The Field Museum is another of Chicago’s beloved attractions offering free admission this month. Every Wednesday of February, Illinois residents can enter the popular natural history museum completely free. According to the Field Museum website, “tickets for Free Days are only available to Illinois residents onsite and cannot be reserved in advance. Please ask a Guest Relations staff member when you arrive at the museum and be ready to show your Illinois proof of residency.”
More information can be found here.
45. Head out of the city and see Illinois’ natural spectacles
- Garden Of The Gods: Saline County
- Wildcat Canyon In Starved Rock State Park: La Salle County
- Cache River State Natural Area: Johnson County
- Cave-In-Rock: Hardin County
- The Pomona Natural Bridge: Jackson County
- Cascade Falls In Matthiessen State Park: La Salle County
- Bork Falls In Ferne Clyffe State Park: Johnson County
More information can be found here.
46. Escape to a cabin in the woods
For an even more prolonged experience in nature. Getaway House is a chain of tiny cabin hideaways helping people in big, bustling cities like Chicago, DC, LA and NYC, disconnect from their busy city lives with restorative stays in the middle of nature. The city can at times become exhausting and we all need time to unplug ourselves from screens and technology, breathe fresh air and reconnect with nature.
Nestled in Grand Junction, Michigan, Getaway House’s stunning midwestern cabins are just a couple of hours away towards the beachside town of South Haven on the shores of Lake Michigan. With cabins with queens beds and queen-sized bunks spread out over 79-acres of beautiful forest, they are perfect for both romantic escapes and family adventures. They fully embrace the minimalistic lifestyle and all cabins feature floor-to-ceiling windows so you can wake up immersed in the wilderness.
More information can be found here.
47. Celebrate 100 years of the Morton Arboretum

Chicago’s Morton Arboretum will this year celebrate its 100th birthday. To celebrate such an occasion, the 1,700-acre tree museum and research center is kicking off a yearlong centennial celebration building up to its 100th birthday. The popular Human+Nature exhibition will continue through March 2023 and two new large-scale sculptures and a commemorative centennial sculpture by artist Daniel Popper will be added to the exhibition in May bringing the total number of colossal sculptures to 8.
There will be events taking place at the Arboretum throughout the year including a weekend dedicated entirely to chocolate tasting on Saturday and Sunday, February 5th and 6th.
More information about the events taking place at the Morton Arboretum this month can be found here.
48. Check out the Princess Diana Exhibit coming to Chicago
For the first time ever, world-famous royal photographers (Anwar Hussein and his two sons Zak and Samir) are sharing their experiences with the iconic princess and her family throughout February and tickets are selling fast.
Princess Diana, by most accounts, is the most photographed human in history. She grew up in the public eye. One of the people that was there capturing the biggest and most important moments was Royal Photographer Anwar Hussein. Later, his sons Zak and Samir joined the family business.
The exhibition, now in Chicago, is told from their perspective: what they heard, what they saw, what they witnessed first-hand will all be shared. This is not a story you have heard before. Whether you are a hard-core fan or new to her legacy, you will be blown away by the fascinating depth and detail shared by the Hussein family.
Grab tickets to the Princess Diana Exhibit here.
49. Attend the Queen’s Ball
Talking of royalty, your presence is soon requested at the most exclusive ball of the season! Now is your chance to secure your invitation to an immersive experience transporting you straight to the Regency era. Prepare to mingle with other members of the Ton as you sip on cocktails and partake in an evening of music and dance. Rumour has it that Her Majesty Queen Charlotte is looking for the diamond of the season, but will you be the one to win her favor?
Grab tickets to the Queen’s Ball here.
50. Dine in total darkness with the Secret Society
If you missed it the first time round worry not because the ominous and delectable Dining In The Dark Experience is returning to Chicago in March. The mysterious secret society will be back at their residence in the 312 and quietly awaiting your attendance in total darkness. Combining a new mysterious plot and more culinary prowess, this enthralling dinner party is unlike any other and now each experience will come with a 5-course tasting menu and a welcome drink!
More information and tickets can be found here.
[Featured Image from Instagram / @carolnrh]