Wintrust Magnificent Mile Lights Festival

About this happenin

North Michigan Avenue becomes a parade route one Saturday night each November for the Wintrust Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, which its organisers bill as the official start of the holiday season in Chicago. The parade steps off from Oak Street at 5:30 p.m. and heads south. As the grand marshals walk, more than a million lights come on in the avenue's 200-plus trees. Lighted floats and marching bands follow under giant helium balloons, and Santa comes last on the Grand Finale float. Fireworks over the Chicago River at Michigan Avenue end the night, and the organisers point to Wacker Drive as a prime place to watch. Earlier, Lights Festival Lane at Pioneer Court, 401 N. Michigan Avenue, runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with live entertainment and free photos with Santa. Celebrations on the avenue go back to 1949, when a 67-foot tree with 1,500 lights stood in Water Tower Park.

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Where

The Magnificent Mile (North Michigan Avenue) · N. Michigan Avenue at Oak Street, Chicago, IL 60611