This weekend's festive Chiditarod shopping cart race will raise thousands of dollars and pounds of food for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, but organizers this year are making special efforts to prevent teams from dressing in offensive costumes.

More than a dozen Chicago women, many of whom have lived with HIV for 20-plus years, tell their stories in a new University of Illinois at Chicago exhibit.

A prominent work of art has been out of the public eye for almost five years. Titled “Above and Beyond,” the installation commemorates American soldiers who lost their lives in the Vietnam War, and it's now back on display at the Harold Washington Library.

Soak up Irish films in Logan Square, take a dip in the lake for charity and see a new special exhibition at the Field Museum. Details on these events and more in our weekend roundup.

She has been bringing her distinctive soprano voice to operatic roles on stages in the U.K., Spain, Germany and Switzerland. Closer to home, she'll soon return to a role in Mozart's “The Marriage of Figaro” at The Metropolitan Opera in New York. Soprano Amanda Majeski talks about her ascending opera career.

A federal judge yet again denied the city's request to begin early construction on the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the 300,000-square-foot museum proposed by film mogul George Lucas which would occupy some 17 acres of lakefront property.

In the 1940s, a theater in the Loop was providing nightly news updates, and a professional cyclist was cleaning up with his Chicago chain of dry cleaning stores. Geoffrey Baer raises the curtain on these local history stories.

Preservation Chicago has released its annual list of the most endangered buildings in Chicago, a list they usually call “the Chicago Seven” – but for the first time in 14 years, the organization has included an eighth structure.

It’s that time of year again, when brazen Chicagoans, some donning outrageous costumes, brave the icy waters of Lake Michigan for a good cause. The 16th annual Polar Plunge benefiting Special Olympics Chicago takes place on Sunday at North Avenue Beach.

Warriors don't just unpack themselves. At the Field Museum, it takes almost three hours to unpack just one of the terra-cotta "warriors" – the Chinese statues on display in a new exhibition opening Friday. 

Theater critic Hedy Weiss has high praise for a new spin on "Othello" at Chicago Shakespeare and a "hypnotic" world premiere stage adaptation at Goodman. Get her take on these plays and others on currently on stage in Chicago.

Toronzo Cannon is just your typical CTA bus driver who moonlights as a sought-after Chicago blues musician. As a guitarist, singer and songwriter, he drives the sound of Chicago blues from the city to blues clubs and festivals around the world.

Best known for his 1993 novel "Trainspotting," which chronicled a group of unemployed drug addicts in Scotland, author Irvine Welsh has been called the best storyteller in Britain. But for about 10 years now, he's lived in Chicago. We'll hear about his new book, “A Decent Ride.”

Dionne Warwick stops by to reminisce about a WTTW "Soundstage" recording from 1980 – and what it's like to see an actress portray her on stage.

February 29, better known as leap day, only comes around every four years. The observation of this extra day of our calendar year has some interesting history.

The doo-wop and soul will be going strong as the theater celebrates its 40th anniversary with some of its hit original shows featuring music from The Spaniels, The Chantels, The Supremes and Otis Redding.