From house music in Jackson Park to art fairs along 57th Street, Hyde Park is heading into a summer packed with neighborhood traditions, live music and community festivals.

  • Southside Youth Explosion hosts a community wellness and resource fair featuring health screenings, dental care, employment resources, support services and live entertainment aimed at supporting South Side families and reducing violence over Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, May 23, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fuller Park, 331 W. 45th St. Free.
  • Memorial Day Block Party hosted by Vineyard Church features a free Memorial Day block party with food, music, games, inflatable activities, face painting and raffle prizes. Monday, May 25, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 5300 block of S. Greenwood Ave. Free. 
  • The Harper Court Summer Music Series will take place once a month on Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 5235 S. Harper Ct. Hosted by Chicago educator and radio host Mario Smith, the series is sponsored by the University of Chicago and The Silver Room. It will feature DJs, live bands and soul, jazz and house performances throughout the summer.
    • The series kicks off June 4 with the 3rd Annual Hyde Park Best Steppers Contest featuring DJ Eric “ET” Taylor. DJ Rich Medina will headline the July 9 event, with performances from Chicago band LeftJones before and after his set.
    • Jazz vocalist and Music Institute of Chicago Artist in Residence Tammy McCann will perform Aug. 6 alongside DJ Celeste Alexander, while contemporary soul artist Shawnee Dez and DJ Selah Say close out the series Sept. 10. More information is available at harpercourtmusic.com.
Hyde Parker Bethany Pickens performs original songs and jazz standards in Harper Court as part Jazz in the Court’s monthly performance series on July 11, 2025. Credit: Owen M. Lawson III
  • Once a month throughout the summer, Jazz in the Court will bring afternoon jazz performances to Harper Court from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., except for the July event.
    • Singer Meagan McNeal opens the series June 5. Other performances this summer include Oscar Brown Jr.’s “100 Years of Genius” onJuly 10, Julian Davis Reid’s Circle of Trust on Aug. 7 and the Quentin Coazum Quintet on Sept. 11. More information is available at hpjazz.com.
Crowds enjoy Hyde Park’s 4th on 53rd Parade on July 4, 2025. Credit: Marc C. Monaghan
  • Another longtime neighborhood tradition, the 4th on 53rd Parade, returns July 4 with marching bands, floats, decorated bikes and community groups. The parade will kick off at 11 a.m. in the Hyde Park Bank parking lot and make its way down 53rd Street to Nichols Park, 1355 E. 53rd St., where it will conclude with a free festival. Running from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., the fest will feature performances — including a battle of the marching bands — bounce houses, face painting and other activities.Everyone is welcome to march. More information can be found at 4thon53rdparade.com/.
DJ CQQCHiFRUIT shows their ballroom chops as they vogue to the theme “Face” on the main stage of the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, 740 E. 56th Pl., during its sixth annual Pride South Side celebration, July 6, 2024. Credit: Marc C. Monaghan
  • The following day, the Pride South Side festival returns to the DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Pl., for a daylong celebration of LGBTQ+ life, culture and history on the South Side. This year’s “Love in Action” theme focuses on economic equity, access to health care and “radical joy,” according to organizers.
    • The free festival runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on July 5. It will feature performances, dancing, local vendors and more. Registration and more information can be found at pridesouthside.org/. 
House heads enjoy the 35th annual Chosen Few Picnic and Festival in Jackson Park, July 12, 2025. Credit: Marc C. Monaghan
  • The Chosen Few Picnic and Festival will return to Jackson Park on July 11 for another daylong celebration of house music. Founded by the South Side DJ collective The Chosen Few, the event began as a small gathering behind the Museum of Science and Industry in 1990 and has since grown into one of the country’s best-known house music festivals.
    • Often described as a family reunion as much as a music festival, the event will feature more than 12 hours of music from Chosen Few DJs and guest performers. Fans travel from across Chicago and around the world for the annual gathering. 
    • The festival runs from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Jackson Park near Hayes Drive and 63rd Street. Tickets start at $89.94 and are available at chosenfewdjs.com.
  • Young girls march proudly down King Drive during the 96th annual Bud Billiken Parade on August 9, 2025. Credit: Spencer Bibbs
  • The Kenwood Academy dance team struts down 53rd Street as part of the neighborhood’s annual 4th on 53rd Parade on July 4, 2025. Credit: Spencer Bibbs
  • The Bud Billiken Parade will return Aug. 8 for its 97th year, bringing marching bands, dance teams, floats and community groups to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. 
    • Organized by Chicago Defender Charities, the parade is widely considered the largest African American parade in the country and has long served as an unofficial back-to-school celebration for generations of South Side families.
    • The parade runs from 39th Street to Washington Park. More details can be found at budbillikenparade.org.

  • Over Labor Day weekend, the African Festival of the Arts will return for its 36th year with live music, dance performances, food vendors and a large marketplace featuring African clothing, jewelry, artwork and crafts.
    • The festival takes place in Washington Park. More information is available at aihusa.org.
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Layla Brown-Clark is a Morgan Park journalist passionate about telling arts and culture and news stories about the city’s South Side.

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