Festival to Celebrate Chicago River Day

This event will take place rain or shine.

On Saturday, May 9, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), in partnership with Friends of the Chicago River, will celebrate the volunteers that come out for Chicago River Day and their families with a party on the old railroad bridge that connects the north end of Goose Island with the North Avenue shopping district between N. Kingsbury Street and the Chicago River. (Map)

The event is open to the public and will feature Windy City Soul Club, family-friendly activities including fishing lessons from the Chicago Park District, free demos from Kayak Chicago, beer from Goose Island Beer Company, and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks from Chicago food trucks. It will also be a fun opportunity to get involved in helping to shape a vision for Chicago’s rivers through the Great Rivers Chicago initiative.

Chicago River Day, an initiative of Friends of the Chicago River, calls upon volunteers all across the city to clean up and maintain what is often an unfairly ignored resource: the Chicago River. Compared with Chicago’s 28 miles of lakefront, our 100-plus miles of riverfront—including the Chicago, Calumet and Des Plaines rivers—have long been underappreciated. By celebrating the volunteers who make it their mission to preserve this integral resource, MPC and Friends of the Chicago River also hope to raise public awareness about the Great Rivers Chicago initiative, including asking residents to take a 10-minute survey (available in English and Spanish) about our rivers, at www.greatriverschicago.com.

Great Rivers Chicago is an initiative of the City of Chicago, Metropolitan Planning Council and Friends of the Chicago River, through the generous support of ArcelorMittal, The Chicago Community Trust and Joyce Foundation.