New Street Festival to Showcase Former Children's Hospital Block

A new locally-focused street festival will soon breathe life into an area most recently characterized by a once-bustling Children's Memorial Hospital. 

The first ever "Lincoln Avenue LIVE" will be held from Saturday, June 1 through Sunday, June 2 in the shadows of the controversial former Children's campus, which has moved to Streeterville and is now called the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

Among beneficiaries will be the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce but Chamber President Kim Schiff stressed that other organizations, including neighborhood groups, will be divvying up the proceeds.

"We are finalizing the beneficiary agreement with the alderman," she said Tuesday, referring to 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith. " ... We're launching a new branding campaign in Lincoln Park so we'll be using our proceeds for that. But proceeds to neighborhood organizations would be dedicated specifically to schools and parks in those areas."

The street festival's focus will be on the neighborhood's "local first" mantra. Local bars and restaurants will be the premiere vendors.

"The idea really originated as a way to support the Lincoln Park community; most notably, the businesses surrounding Children's Memorial," Schiff said. "There is a loss of about 4,000 visitors a day to that block ... with that in mind, we really wanted to create a source of support and valuable foot traffic."

The inaugural street festival will be held from noon to 10 p.m. during both days on North Lincoln between Fullerton and Webster avenues. Music, eats, arts and crafts are all on the preliminary docket, organizers said. A special kids' area may also be in the works, they noted.

"It's the first year and we're always on a learning curve," Fred Newton, marketing director for Special Events Management, said. "This is about the time we'll really be ironing out the details."

Coordinators say the post-Memorial Day party is "guaranteed to draw an eclectic and urbane crowd," and feature "great music, the cuisine of local eateries and libations."

"It's before all the other street festivals so it's a really nice way to kick off our summer festival season," Schiff said. "We're looking forward to it."

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