Travel in Time During Navy Pier’s Summer Night Markets

Summer nights have arrived in Chicago with cool breezes off the lake and Navy Pier will be bustling even more than usual thanks to its inaugural Summer Night Markets on the last Wednesday of every month through August. From 6-9 p.m., the pier will feature products from local small businesses, free live music, interactive art, and workshops. And it concludes in time to get a prime spot for its famous fireworks!

By Dave Lifton (@daveeatschicago)

Each event will have a different theme related to a specific era, and the vendors will have a different limited-edition item related to the era. The Summer Night Market back in May focused on Chicago in the ‘70s. June 28^th will be devoted to the ‘80s and July 26^th will be set in the ‘90s. For Aug. 30^th, the theme will be Chicago of the future.

The organizers are encouraging visitors to don costumes related to the theme. For example, in June, you can possibly dress up as your favorite character from a John Hughes movie set in and around Chicago. A month later, maybe come as your favorite member of Smashing Pumpkins or Urge Overkill. As for what to wear in August? That’s up to your imagination and vision of what Chicago will be like in years to come.

For those visiting Navy Pier, eATLAS has two free adventures. The Navy Pier Exploration reviews the history of the pier through discovery of some of its hidden gems. It helps support the Community Rides program, which provides free rides on the Centennial Wheel to schools and nonprofits. The Many Lives of Navy Pier at the eastern tip of the pier focuses on its various incarnations.

Located 0.75 miles from the Magnificent Mile and extending 3,000 feet into Lake Michigan, “The People’s Pier” has long been one of Chicago’s most popular tourist destinations, visited by 9 million people annually. Originally proposed in Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago as a way to declutter the Chicago River and provide a public recreational space, the pier has also served as a naval training facility, exhibition hall, festival grounds, and even a campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Since 1994, Navy Pier has been a family-friendly destination, celebrated for attractions like the Centennial Wheel and other rides, Chicago Children’s Museum, souvenir shops, restaurants, and its spectacular views of Chicago’s skyline. Ever-evolving, it has added a Pixar-themed miniature golf course at North Polk Brothers Park, Offshore (the world’s largest rooftop bar), and a hotel to its list of amenities in recent years.

This summer, visitors to Navy Pier can check out The State of Sound: A World of Music from Illinois, which can be found on the lower level of Festival Hall A. The exhibit spotlights the diverse range of blues, rock, jazz, pop, and hip-hop artists who have come from the Land of Lincoln. In Polk Bros Park at the western entrance is Derrick Adams’ Funtime Unicorns, an interactive art installation.

So head down for Summer Night Markets to travel back—or forward—in time, see all the new things Navy Pier has to offer, and cap off the evening with an incredible fireworks display!