The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) this week announced that one of Chicago’s most beloved summer markets, and the longest-running open-air market, Maxwell Street Market is returning to its original home on Maxwell Street this season.
This 2024 season will kick off on Sunday, May 26th on Maxwell Street between S. Halsted Street and S. Union Avenue, as well as on S. Union Avenue between W. Rochford Street and W. Liberty Street.
Guests can again peruse handmade crafts and undetected treasures while enjoying live music and sensational street food from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on 6 different summer market dates thereafter.
“The Maxwell Street Market has been a Chicago tradition for more than a century. It not only promotes entrepreneurship, but also provides critically important opportunities for small businesses including craftspeople, artists, farmers, restaurateurs, and re-sellers,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson.”
“Our hope is that the move back to its original neighborhood will spur memories of the historic Maxwell Street Market, bring back that entrepreneurial spirit, and ensure its longevity for generations to come.”
The original Maxwell Street Market first started out as an open-air market in the late 19th century by newly arrived Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. It then became officially recognized as the Maxwell Street Market by the City of Chicago in October 1912.
In the 1930s and 1940s, it became an incubator of the Chicago Blues and has long been considered the genre’s birthplace. Many Black artists would perform at the market to large audiences having fled the South due to the Jim Crow laws during the 40s and 50s and thus helped bring about the Chicago Blues.
In 1994, the Maxwell Street Market was moved a few blocks east to Canal Street to accommodate the expansion of the University of Illinois at Chicago and was then again relocated to S. Desplaines in 2008. Now, after three decades, the 2024 edition returns home to Maxwell Street.