The De La Cruz family with the 45-foot Colorado Blue Spruce that will light up Millennium Park this holiday season. (Courtesy De La Cruz family; City of Chicago)

The 45-foot Colorado Blue Spruce will take centerstage during an official tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m.

(Pixabay / neelam279)

Love it or hate it, the stunt works for the station. In 2022, the LITE’s ratings doubled between November and December.

(Courtesy of The Old Joliet Haunted Prison)

Find your own darn pumpkin patches and corn mazes. This is a list for adults who love the spooky season just as much as those costumed kids with their candy bags.

(Credit: City of Chicago)

The selected tree will serve as the centerpiece of Chicago’s official holiday celebrations in Millennium Park. Here’s how to submit yours for consideration.

UPS teamsters and workers hold a rally, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Atlanta, as a national strike deadline nears. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

The early-September tribute to workers has been an official holiday for almost 130 years — but an emboldened labor movement has created an environment closer to the era from which Labor Day was born. 

(Eric James Walsh)

Christkindlmarket has announced its 2023 season will begin Nov. 17 at three locations in the Chicago area: Daley Plaza, Gallagher Way at Wrigley Field and RiverEdge Park in Aurora.

A crowd retraces the Highland Park Fourth of July parade route on July 4, 2023, one year after a mass shooting in the suburb left seven dead. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)

This July 4 in Highland Park, one year after seven people were killed and dozens more wounded in a mass shooting, the sounds of marching bands and cheers were replaced by a much more solemn gathering.

(Lisa Fotios / Pexels)

Live trees — well, not so live anymore — can be recycled at any one of 26 citywide locations, Jan. 7-21.

The annual “Christmas Around the World” exhibit at Museum of Science and Industry. (Credit: Heidi Peters / Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago)

There's still plenty of holiday merriment to be made through the New Year. 

(WTTW News)

He’s known by many names: Old Saint Nick, Kris Kringle and Father Christmas. But perhaps the biggest change is recent. Today’s Santas are more diverse, bringing children not just gifts but also representation.

A postcard featuring Santa Claus is part of the Newberry Library collection. (WTTW News)

Over time there have been many interpretations of Santa’s look – and vintage postcards from the early 20th century prove that he’s had more makeovers than a movie star. At the Newberry Library, a rare collection tracks Santa’s evolution.

Travelers walk through Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. (Nam Y. Huh / AP)

The number of travelers expected to fly – 7.2 million – is just shy of 2019’s 7.3 million. And when you factor in that airlines are operating fewer flights that are more crowded, there’s serious potential for a serious mess for air travelers. How to cope? Here are some strategies.

(Lisa Fotios / Pexels)

Chicago’s Christmas tree recycling event kicks off Saturday and runs through Jan. 22 at 26 parks. The program keeps hundreds of thousands of pounds of trees out of landfills.

Travelers queue up at the Southwest Airlines curbside check-in area at Denver International Airport Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Denver. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19 to extend the nation's travel problems beyond Christmas. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel stretched into Monday, with major U.S. airlines each canceling dozens of flights.

A face mask hangs from a decorated Christmas tree. (Skitterphoto / Pixabay)

With cases of COVID-19 skyrocketing and hospitalizations surging in Illinois, officials are pleading with unvaccinated residents to change their minds about receiving shots.

Travelers walk through Terminal A at Orlando International Airport on Christmas Day, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021. (Stephen M. Dowell / Orlando Sentinel via AP)

More than 700 flights entering, leaving or flying within the U.S. were called off, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. That figure was down from nearly 1,000 on Saturday. More than 50 flights were already canceled for Monday.