June 18th events

From Puerto Rican Day Parades to fun events for foodies, and for families, here are Saturday’s freebies and must-sees. For more summer fun, visit: www.ExploreChicago.org/summer

Enjoy Free Concerts and Workouts in Millennium Park!

• The Grant Park Music Festival presents Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erdenand Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, with sopranos Tamara Wilson and Maire O’Brien and tenor Brendan Tuohy. B.Y.O.Picnic! Millennium Park, Pritzker Pavilion, 7:30pm.
• Quadratic and DJs from the local radio show Abstract Science do free sets during Saturday’s Electric Picnic, part of the park’s daily Lunchbreak Music Series.
• Break a sweat during Millennium Park’s Summer Workouts, held every Saturday this summer. Start out with Yoga at 8am, work on your beach abs during pilates at 9am, then show off your Zumba moves at 10am, with live music by the Jazz Mata Duo!

Enjoy Fun Events for Foodies!

• Shop for organic veggies at the Green City Market, and enjoy a free chef demo by Jeffrey Hedin of Leopold at 10:30am.
• Not free, but fun: Head to Taste of Randolph Street this weekend to sample food from some of Chicago’s top restaurants. For a video preview, click here. For suggestions of other things to do in the area, to round out your day, click here.
• Not free, but fun: Get ready for the Fourth of July with a Red, White and Blue cocktail class at Chen’s, 6:30-8pm. $20 (includes a $20 gift certificate to the restaurant).

Celebrate Puertro Rican Day with Two Parades!

• Celebrate Puerto Rican Pride at the 46th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, which kicks off downtown at Columbus and Balbo Drives at 12noon, and proceeds north on Columbus Dr. to Monroe St. with a procession of floats, folk dancing, reggaeton music, salsa dancing and more.
• The 33rd annual Puerto Rican People’s Parade kicks off at Division St & Western Ave at 2:30pm. This neighborhood parade takes place in Humboldt Park, where the free Fiestas Puertorriquenas is already under way.

Enjoy Chicago this summer with Family Treks and Activities!

• Explore the city with fun activities and treks, including family adventures, the daily free admission Family Fun Fest in Millennium Park, neighborhood tours, and much, much more! Plan a Family Adventure today!
• Make a coil pot and play with clay during Family Field Day at the Field Museum, free with admission, 11am-2pm.
• Not Free, But Fun: Tour U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, and do a robots activity at the Illinois Institute of Technology on theBridgeport/IIT Family Adventure, July 1 and July 15, $12. Book now!
• Not Free, But Fun: Visit the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, a hidden gem in Lincoln Park, before a tour of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Thengo fishing in the Lincoln Park Lagoon on the Lincoln Park Family Adventure, July 8 and August 6, $12. Book now! Book now!

Enjoy Free Movie Screenings!

• Movies in the Parks continues with a free screening of The Karate Kid in Dunham Park. The movies begins at dusk.
• The Chicago Cultural Center hosts a free screening of a film Two Spirits, originally shown as part of the award-winning PBS series, Independent Lens. 2pm.
• Check-In at the Movie Mojo: Hand-Painted Posters from Ghana exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center and you’re one step closer to earning our On Location badge for Foursquare, a free game for your mobile phone!
• Or visit filming locations, choosing from six movie experiences:Transformers 3, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Blues Brothers, The Dark Knight, High Fidelity and Chick Flicks in Chicago.

Take a Free Guided Tour of Chicago Neighborhoods and Attractions!

• Explore popular neighborhoods and special local interests on a customizedChicago Greeter tour (offered daily), or on an on-the-spot Instagreeter tour.
• Instagreeter tours being offered this Saturday: The Loop, Millennium Park, Old Town, and Hyde Park. Click here for more info.
• Gaze at the world’s largest Tiffany stained-glass dome on a FREE tour of the Chicago Cultural Center, 1:15pm.

Head to Taste of Chicago for Delicious Food, Family Fun, and Free Concerts!

• Taste of Chicago (June 24 – July 3) is coming up soon! Sample a delicious array of food from 59 of Chicago’s neighborhood restaurants. Enjoy free concerts and family entertainment, including multi-Grammy award winning singer Natalie Cole (June 30), 90′s alterna-rockers The Lemonheads (June 28), country legend Loretta Lynn (July 1), alt-country and rock band The Jayhawks (July 2), and YouTube sensation Greyson Chance (July 3). Take a look at the official line-up here!

Not Free, but Fun:

• Hubbard Street Dance Chicago presents the Inside / Out Choreographic Workshop, a rare glimpse at the choreographic talents of dancers within the company. Here’s show information, and a list of five things to do in Little Italy and the West Loop on your way to the show.
• The Dance Improvisation Fest, co-presented by Links Hall and The Dance Center of Columbia College, runs from today through June 19, $10-20.
• See Steve Martin, Martin Short, Seth Meyers and others during The TWIX® Presents: TBS Just for Laughs Festival, June 14-19. Check out our related post, “7 Places to Have a Good Laugh in Chicago: Affordable Neighborhood Comedy Venues” for festival information, and great ideas about where to see comedy any time of year.
• The Chicago Symphony Center presents 6 days of concerts inspired by different US cities, from the brass band traditions of New Orleans, to the road songs of Route 66,  June 10-12 & June 16-18, $25-70.
• OPENING: The Museum of Contemporary Art presents rarely seen work by Joseph Cornell, June 18 – October 16.