Chicago Humanities Festival — talks and performances
- Multi-venue festival of talks, performances, and conversations featuring leading authors, artists, and thinkers. - Runs April 18–May 17, 2026 with events throughout the week and weekend. - Multiple venues across Chicago; full schedule and tickets at choosechicago.com.
Chicago Humanities Festival is running a spring season across Chicago and Evanston, with three main festival days on April 18, May 9, and May 17. (chicagohumanities.org) The spring lineup opened in Bridgeport on Saturday, April 18 with events at Ramova Theatre and Co-Prosperity, including Dr. Ibram X. Kendi with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Art Spiegelman in conversation, and a MacArthur Fellows program on housing justice with Tonika Lewis Johnson, Amanda Williams, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. (chicagohumanities.org) The next festival day is set for Saturday, May 9 in Lakeview at the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture, where the schedule includes David Axelrod and David French at 11 a.m., Padma Lakshmi at 4 p.m., and Jad Abumrad with Lynda Barry at 7 p.m. (chicagohumanities.org) The final festival day is scheduled for Sunday, May 17 at Northwestern University in Evanston, with Mary Beard at 11 a.m., Frida Kahlo’s great-nieces discussing *Casa Kahlo* at 2 p.m., and John Waters at 5 p.m. in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. (chicagohumanities.org) Chicago Humanities says its festival model has expanded over more than 30 years from a one-day event into a year-round arts-and-ideas program, with annual events spread across neighborhoods from Englewood to Evanston. (chicagohumanities.org) That format shows up in this spring run: Bridgeport programming mixed neighborhood tours with talks on public health, adaptive reuse, resistance, and Chicago music, while Lakeview and Northwestern University days center politics, history, literature, food, and health. (chicagohumanities.org) The guest list also shows how the festival packages big-name speakers with book and media tie-ins. Lakshmi’s May 9 event is built around her cookbook *Padma’s All American*, and Waters’ May 17 appearance is tied to reissues of six early screenplays, including *Pink Flamingos* and *Hairspray*. (chicagohumanities.org 1) (chicagohumanities.org 2) Some sessions are already sold out. The Chicago Humanities event listings mark Mary Beard’s May 17 talk, the Lakeview member reception, and several walking tours as sold out as of April 23, 2026. (chicagohumanities.org) Choose Chicago lists the festival in its 2026 citywide event guide, placing it alongside the city’s larger calendar of spring and summer cultural events. The remaining spring dates are May 9 and May 17. (choosechicago.com)
