Summer Is a Time for Festivals Part 2

Well, it turns out that while we made it to several festivals this summer, we did not make it to as many as we'd hoped we would due to many wonderful guests and tons of travel.  However, thanks to Rashida's handy-dandy festival guide, we were able to work in a few more festivals in July and August, and so we wanted to make sure that we rated them for you, our readers, using our very official, highly scientific festival rating system.

Up first is Thai Fest, followed by Ravinia, and finishing with Sausage Fest.

Thai Fest

Thai Fest celebrates the food, culture, and art of Thailand, including the intricate art of fruit carving, traditional Thai dance, and lots of yummy Thai curries.

Michel:  Thai Fest was held downtown and seemed to be populated by a mix of Thai people and people who wandered in on their way home from work.  Unlike some culturally based festivals that we've been to, Thai Fest seemed more firmly grounded in traditional Thai culture than an American-Thai hybrid culture, which I found to be refreshing. 

 

Elizabeth:  Agreed.  In fact, the festival seemed to be focusing on many of the elements of Thai culture that are often overlooked.  I had no idea about traditional fruit carving, but many of the pieces on display were absolutely spectacular and took a lot of training and skill to create.  Additionally, the festival was very generational.  There seemed to be an especially large number of young people celebrating their Thai culture, whether through performing in the musical and dance pieces or cooking traditional Thai dishes at the food booths.  It's clear that the Thai community in Chicago is strong, and it's really cool to see how important cultural traditions are to the younger generations.

Michel:  In terms of food, there were a number of options in addition to Elizabeth's gringa favorite of pad Thai, but because we arrived in the evening after the festival had clearly been going a while, many of the food options were sold out.  But what we did get was delicious. 

Elizabeth:  I fully embrace my gringa love of pad Thai, and I have to say it was probably the best pad Thai I've had in the city. 

Michel:  I don't actually remember what I got, but I remember I liked it a lot.

Elizabeth:  This was a very small festival, taking up about a city block.  There was a ton of culture packed into the plaza, but because of its size, time (middle of the week), and location, I really don't expect many people sought out the festival, which is a shame.  As Michel said, many of the visitors seemed to have wandered in during their walk to the train after work.  We don't know what the traffic was like earlier in the day, but this was a lovely and culturally thorough festival and certainly deserves more visitors.  

Our Rating: 6.5

Michel: It would have scored higher, but they failed to anticipate our attendance and thus did not have extra curry set aside for us.  Not providing a full menu to such seasoned festival critics as us seemed a foolish mistake on their part.

Elizabeth:  If only our ratings actually meant something...



Ravinia

Ravinia is the least festival-esq festival on the festival circuit.  It's a summer of concerts up at Ravinia, a gorgeous theatre and concert venue that is perfect for a summer picnic while listening to artists ranging from Kiri Te Kanawa and Nathan Gunn to Joss Stone, Carrie Underwood, and Tony Bennett.  And, of course, Earth Wind and Fire.

Michel:  We went on a night featuring an opera about a marriage by an upstart named Wolfgang something.

Elizabeth:  It was a concert version of The Marriage of Figaro put on by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra starring several singers who will be performing with Chicago Lyric Opera this season.  We were particularly excited as this visit meant a picnic and our first trip on the Metra, the high-ish speed commuter train.

Michel:  If by high-ish speed, you mean roughly the speed as the El on a straightaway, then yes. 

Elizabeth:  Well, it's supposed to be fast, anyway.  The concert was amazing, but all I have to say is that we were completely outclassed picnic-wise.  We just had a couple of beach towels, some delicious cheese, bread, cold cuts, and fruit and tomatoes, and wine that we poured in plastic Longhorn cups.  Pretty classy.  What we were missing were folding chairs (reasonable), a table (maybe a little less reasonable, but ok), a candelabra complete with lit candles (what??), and crystal glassware (no way).  Yes, we saw all of that.

Michel:  Unlike other venues like Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston, the stage is not visible from the lawn at Ravinia.  Performances take place inside the theatre building.  Instead, speakers are set up around the lawn, giving every part of the lawn equally great sound quality.

Elizabeth:  And boy, was it a great cast.  Despite needing to up our picnic game, it was a really fun evening with fabulous music, and we are really looking forward to going again and hopefully more often next summer.

Michel:  Agreed.

Our Rating:  Mozart!!!!!

 

Sausage Fest

Elizabeth:  Oh, Sausage Fest.  We had such high hopes.

Michel:  Given the name, one might think this was a culinary event winkingly put on by a group such as the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus.  Alas, it was instead essentially a church fundraiser held in the church's parking lot and named without a trace of irony.

 

 They were going to crown the new Sausage King of Chicago.

Elizabeth:  Now there is nothing wrong with this, except when your previous meat-based Chicago festival experience has been Rib Fest, which is a massive culinary undertaking that has now earned itself its own episode of Eating America with Anthony Anderson.  So you understand why we were disappointed.  That being said, our two sausages were quite tasty. 

Michel:  And because it was a Catholic church, there was plenty of booze to be had, and, in fact, superior beer to that which could be found at Rib Fest.

Elizabeth: And I won a free t-shirt.  It's really soft.

Michel:  The biggest problem with Sausage Fest was expectation versus reality.  We had seen Rib Fest and expected all meat-based festivals to be similar in scope.  And by those standards, Sausage Fest seemed woefully inadequate.

Elizabeth:  It's a nice little festival, though, and, again, the actual product was very good.

Our Rating: 6 Festies out of 10--could have been higher if expectations were managed


And so concludes (we think) our Summer of Festivals in Chicago.  Please keep an eye out beginning next May for our next round of highly accurate and scientific festival ratings.  Tune in next week for our fall special in which we rate and compare the different leaves we find on the ground.  It is sure to be riveting.