CITY HALL — The city has set its schedule for major events and festivals next year, and it includes Redmoon Theater taking another stab at the Great Chicago Fire Festival.
The 2015 festival season, released Thursday by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, will kick off April 16-19 with the Creative Summit and Expo, at a venue to be determined.
But then high points include the 35th annual Taste of Chicago from July 8-12 in Grant Park and the 30th annual Gospel Music Festival, May 29-31, at a location to be announced.
Dates and locations are subject to change, but otherwise the schedule includes, in chronological order:
- The 17th annual Chicago Kids and Kites Festival, May 2, at Montrose Harbor.
- The Memorial Day Parade, May 23, down State Street.
- The Millennium Park Music Series, June 1 through Aug. 27, at the Pritzker Pavilion.
- The 32nd annual Blues Festival, June 12-14, at Grant Park.
- Chicago Bike Week, June 12-19, citywide.
- The Summer Film Series, June 23 through Aug. 25, at the Pritzker Pavilion.
- The 19th annual SummerDance series, June 26 through Sept. 13, at Grant Park.
- The 57th annual Air and Water Show, Aug. 15-16, at North Avenue Beach.
- The 37th annual Jazz Festival, Sept. 3-6, at Millennium Park and the Cultural Center.
- The 17th annual World Music Festival, Sept. 11-22, citywide.
- The Fifth Star Awards, Sept. 16, at the Pritzker Pavilion.
- The second annual Great Chicago Fire Festival, produced by Redmoon Theater, on dates to be determined in the summer and fall, but centering on the Great Chicago Fire's anniversary on Oct. 8.
- Chicago Artists Month in October.
- Spinoff, a contemporary dance series, in November, at the Cultural Center and Storefront Theater.
- The Millennium Park Ice Rink, from Nov. 13 through March 6, 2016.
- The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, Nov. 24, at Daley Plaza.
- Santa House, from Nov. 24 through Dec. 24, at Daley Plaza.
- Caroling at Cloud Gate, Nov. 27 through Dec. 18, in Millennium Park.
The department also pointed out it will sponsor farmers markets at Daley Plaza and citywide from May through October.
Rain and cold dampened the inaugural Great Chicago Fire Festival, with Ald. Edward Burke (14th) calling it a "fiasco" after structures that were supposed to burn away and give way to symbols of the city's rebirth never caught fire.
Yet, while Mayor Rahm Emanuel refused to commit to bringing back Redmoon Theater to run it, saying "changes" and "adaptations" had to be made, Michelle T. Boone, DCASE commissioner, affirmed her commitment to the company and apparently won out, at least according to the tentative department schedule released Thursday.
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