Millennium Park Holiday Market

About This Event

A smaller, artisan-focused counterpart to Daley Plaza's Christkindlmarket a few blocks away — independent Chicago makers selling hand-knit scarves, bath bombs, and other locally made goods under string lights, timed to open the same weekend as the park's own 113th annual tree lighting.

Millennium Park itself has a famously rocky origin story that makes this market's existence feel almost improbable. Construction started in 1998 with a planned summer 2000 opening; it actually opened four years late, on July 16, 2004, and massively over budget — the city projected $150 million and ended up spending roughly $490 million, about $220 million of it from private donors. Cloud Gate, the sculpture everyone calls 'The Bean,' wasn't even finished yet when the park opened; it didn't reach its final form until May 2006, at a cost of $23 million against an original $6 million estimate. Twenty years later, the same park that was a national punchline for delays and overruns is one of the city's most-visited public spaces.

Worth knowing: hours run Friday-Saturday noon to 8 PM and Sunday from noon, free to walk through — check choosechicago.com for the exact closing date of this year's run.