Arts & Entertainment

Open House Chicago Full 2026 Lineup Announced, Including 20 New Sites

The annual Open House Chicago festival is returning next month, giving residents access to places in the city of architectural, historical and cultural significance that are rarely open to the public.

This year’s event will feature more than 200 locations across 30 Chicago neighborhoods, including 20 sites that are new to the festival, according to a Wednesday announcement. 

The 16th annual event, organized by the Chicago Architecture Center, takes place Oct. 17-18. 

The event is free to attend and no advance registration is required to participate. Visitors can choose their sites and just show up during listed open house hours.

The new sites for this year are:

• Blackhawks Ice Center (Near West Side)
• Chicago Fire FC’s Dear Chicago Experience Center (Near North Side)
• Muddy Waters MOJO Museum (Kenwood)
• Smashed Plastic Record Pressing (Hermosa)
• Windy City Bird Lab (Near West Side)
• Sears Sunken Garden (North Lawndale)
• Oak Woods Cemetery (Woodlawn)
• Narrow Bridge Arts Club (Woodlawn) 
• TimeLine Theatre (Uptown)
• Broadway in Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre (Downtown)
• Woman’s Athletic Club (Near North Side)
• Chinese American Service League Kam Liu Building (Chinatown)
• Xchange Chicago at Gary Comer Youth Center (Woodlawn)
• St. Pauls United Church of Christ (Lincoln Park)
• Albany-Carroll Arts Building (Garfield Park)
• FarmZero (Downtown)
• Olson Kundig (Near West Side)
• Bronzeville Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Headquarters (Bronzeville)
• BandWith Chicago (Garfield Park)
• Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Hyde Park)

Participants can view the full site lineup and plan their itinerary here.

New to this year’s event is a “Built on Belief” program that explores intersections of architecture, religion and spirituality. Three sites in Woodlawn — the Narrow Bridge Arts Club, First Presbyterian Church of Chicago and Oak Woods Cemetery — will co-create site-specific exhibitions and programs for the festival. The locations tell a story of how the South Side neighborhood has been shaped by different faith communities and sacred sites over generations, according to a news release. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, 6400 S. Kimbark Ave., in Woodlawn is among three sites in the South Side neighborhood participating in the Chicago Architecture Center’s “Built on Belief” program debuting during this year’s Open House Chicago weekend. (Courtesy of Eric Allix Rogers)

Some sites are also returning to Open House Chicago this year after taking a break, such as: the House of Blues; The Plant in Back of the Yards; Auditorium Theater in the Loop; Center for Native Futures in the Marquette Building; the Jazz Age Park Castle Condominiums in Rogers Park; the Al-Sadiq Mosque in Bronzeville; Birch Road Clubhouse in Lincoln Park; and Chinatown’s Pui Tak Center.

Other returning favorites include:

• Chicago Magic Lounge (Andersonville)
• Electrical Audio (Avondale)
• Chicago Board of Trade (Downtown)
• Apollo’s 2000 (Little Village)
• Avalon Regal Theater (South Shore)
• Stony Island Arts Bank (South Shore)
• Walt Disney House and Birthplace (Hermosa)
• Irish American Heritage Center (Irving Park)
• Bronzeville Forum (Bronzeville)
• Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation/Chess Records (Near South Side)

“We hope that attendees strengthen their relationships with architectural spaces in their own neighborhoods, while also exploring diverse communities across the city and gaining confidence to participate more fully in conversations around architecture, design and civic life,” Chicago Architecture Center President & CEO Eleanor Esser Gorski said in a statement.

This festival is also bringing back its photo competition.

Attendees of all ages and skill levels can submit photos taken at Open House Chicago sites with the theme of celebrating Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods, according to a news release. Submissions can be made through Chicago Architecture Center’s website and six winners will have their photography displayed in the Chicago Architecture Center in downtown.

Every year, Open House Chicago attracts more than 35,000 visitors from the region and across the U.S., according to a news release. 

The Auditorium Theater, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Dr., in the Loop is one of the sites returning to Open House Chicago this year after taking a break. This year’s event will feature more than 200 locations across 30 Chicago neighborhoods. (Courtesy of Auditorium)

Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]

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