Groundhog Day Lives Here: Why Woodstock, Illinois Is a Winter Pilgrimage Worth Making
From Willie’s famous prognostication to a storybook town square filled with shops, food, and festive cheer, Woodstock, IL turns February into a celebration
Stories from Illinois
Audrey Wilson and The Ever End: How a Chicago Writer Is Redefining Psychological Horror
From screenwriting to novels, Audrey Wilson draws on Midwest unease, emotional realism, and representation to craft a new kind of literary horror
Game Day, Elevated: Inside Roaring Table Brewery, Where Craft Beer and Pizza Rule the Weekend
From award-winning lagers to Detroit-style pan pies, the Lake Zurich brewery turning football Sundays into a neighborhood ritual
Tievoli Pizza Bar: Where a Family’s Love Letter to New York Pizza Burns Bright in Palatine
From a wood-fired oven in suburban Illinois to the world’s most prestigious pizza competitions, Tievoli proves that great pizza, like love, travels fast
Hey Nonny Turns the Spotlight All the Way Up: Inside the Nation’s Largest Women’s Jazz Festival
Fourteen women-led ensembles. Five nights. One intimate room in Arlington Heights that keeps rewriting Chicago’s jazz story
Playoff Football, Chicago Dogs, and a Big-Hearted Giveaway: How Photos Hotdogs Turns Game Day Into Community Gold
As the NFL playoffs heat up, a beloved Palatine hot dog stand proves that great food tastes even better when it gives back
Activate Games Turns Screen Time Into Real-Life Play
Midwest’s first Activate Games blends video gaming, physical activity, and family-friendly competition into one high-energy experience
Lingering Inland: How Midwest Stories, Memory, and Place Shape the American Soul
Andy Oler’s Literary Landscapes Project Explores Midwestern Identity Through 73 Voices, From Toni Morrison to the Beauty of Everyday Towns
The Sock Monkey That Built a Museum: Inside America’s Most Unexpected Road Trip Legend
The strangely soulful origin story of the Sock Monkey Museum
Vintage Holidays Brings Old-World Christmas Magic to Historic Downtown Long Grove
A cozy stroll through historic downtown Long Grove as Vintage Holidays lights up the season with small-town Christmas magic.
Inside Exes of Christmas Past: The Chicago-Made Holiday Rom-Com Turning Real Life Into Movie Magic
A behind-the-scenes look at the Libertyville-shot Christmas film where former flames reunite, real exes share the screen
Inside the Smokehouse: How Chicago Culinary Kitchen Became the Rock-&-Roll King of Game-Day BBQ
Texas Heat Meets Midwest Hunger—The Palatine BBQ Institution Fueling Football Sundays, Feast-Level Parties, and Holiday Tables Across Chicagoland
A Holiday Pilgrimage to Richardson Christmas Tree Farm: Where Tradition Takes Root in the Illinois Countryside
At one of the Midwest’s largest cut-your-own tree farms, families trek through 75 acres of evergreens, sip hot cider, browse handmade wreaths—and rediscover the magic of Christmas in Spring Grove
The Morton Arboretum’s Illumination: Where Winter Glows Brighter Than Ever
Get ready to light up your holidays
Deep within the woods of southwest Chicago lies Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery — a place of a thousand eyeballs
The Chilling History and Hauntings of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery: Chicago’s Most Haunted Resting Place