JEFFERSON PARK — Thousands of people are expected to flock to Jefferson Memorial Park this weekend as part of the second annual Figment Festival's effort to turn a Chicago park into a participatory art exhibit.
The Figment Festival, which features just about every type of art imaginable except the kind that hangs on walls or sits in a gallery, drew 4,000 people to Garfield Park last summer, only to find itself without a home due to scheduling issues, festival spokesman David Shuey said.
The festival is designed to showcase "art that encourages participants to play, dance, sing, create, engage, experiment and explore their environment," according to the festival's website.
On Saturday, the festival will feature KIDitarod, that will send teams of kids — and their grownups — racing around the park to raise awareness about hunger and explore Figment's founding principles, including gifting, self-reliance and immediacy.
Some of the more than 50 art projects that the festival featured last year will return, including the clown-studded Red Curtain Stage show and Hudor, the water-breathing dragon.
The Huggery, which appeared this year at events in Texas, Michigan and Utah, will take part in the festival and offer an extensive menu of hugs that people can choose from, from serious to funny, as designed by artists Jason Glaser and Mehgun Sajeske.
Figment will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Jefferson Memorial Park, 4822 N. Long Ave., which is near the Jefferson Park stop on the CTA Blue Line as well as the No. 56 Milwaukee Avenue and the No. 88 Higgins bus routes.
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