Free & Affordable Activities in Chicago

The Chicago Air and Water Show is an annual Chicago tradition, held over two days each August for more than 60 years. The show was originally held in 1959 as part of the city's Family Day Celebration and has become the United States' largest and oldest free-admission exhibition show of its kind, drawing an annual audience of more than two million visitors. The show is centered at Chicago's North Avenue Beach, which invites attendees to bring lawn chairs and beach blankets to watch a full lineup of aviation and watercraft performers, including military and civilian pilots, boaters, parachuters, and diving teams, present dazzling tricks over Lake Michigan. Visitors can also watch acts from a number of nearby restaurants and public spaces, including the Navy Pier and Belmont and Diversity Harbors. To avoid event parking fees, visitors can reach the beach from multiple stops on Chicago's CTA bus system or L train rapid transit system.

North Avenue Beach, 1600 N. Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60613

The Chicago Children’s Museum is a family-friendly interactive educational museum at Chicago's Navy Pier, offering more than 57,000 square feet of science, arts, and civic-focused exhibits. The museum was originally founded in 1982 by the city's Junior League as a response to public school funding cutbacks and became the nation's fourth-largest children's museum after its move to the Navy Pier in 1995. Today, the museum serves more than 650,000 annual visitors, offering exhibits such as the three-story Kovler Family Climbing Schooner, the city's first children's DIY maker lab, and the Story Hub mini-movie maker, which allows children to document their museum experiences in the form of online movies. The museum offers Play Late Thursdays from 4-8pm every Thursday ($14.95 for a family of four).

700 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, Phone: 312-527-1000

The DuSable Museum of African-American History is a Smithsonian-affiliated museum in Chicago's South Side that is dedicated to the preservation and study of African-American culture and history. The museum was originally founded in 1961 as the Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art, intended by founders Margaret Taylor-Burroughs and Charles Burroughs to correct the lack of study of African-American culture by leading educational institutions. Since then, the museum has served as a model for similar African-American museums around the country, showcasing a collection of more than 13,000 artifacts related to 19th and 20th-century African-American culture and luminaries, including Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, and Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, Chicago's first non-indigenous settler. Each Tuesday, the museum is open for free to all visitors. Limited free parking is offered in the museum's lot, with CTA and METRA stops offered nearby.

740 E 56th Pl, Chicago, IL 60637, Phone: 773-947-0600

Garfield Park Conservatory is one of the United States' largest botanical garden and conservatory facilities, originally designed in 1906 and 1907 by landscape architect Jens Jensen. Today, the conservatory spans 4.5 acres throughout Chicago's Garfield Park, showcasing native and exotic plant collections in eight indoor garden displays, including a notable collection of cycads over 200 years old and a palm tree collection with more than seven dozen varieties of palm trees. 10 acres of outdoor gardens are also offered, along with children's play spaces and an outdoor water lily pond. The conservatory has been the recipient of a number of significant national museum awards, including the National Medal for Museum and Library Services, and was selected as one of the AIA's Illinois 200 Great Places. It is free and open to the public daily, offering a wide variety of free public special event programming for visitors of all ages throughout the year.

300 N Central Park Ave, Chicago, IL 60624, Phone: 312-746-5100

The McCormick Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum preserves a five-story bridgehouse that was originally designed by architect Edward Bennett as part of the operating system for the city's double-decker DuSable Bridge, which was constructed in 1920 as the Michigan Avenue Bridge. The museum, which is operated by the nonprofit organization Friends of the Chicago River, showcases five stories of visitor exhibits on the city's river system and famed movable bridge system, including exhibits on the construction and operation of the DuSable Bridge system. First-floor exhibits are ADA accessible, including the bridgehouse's gear room, which allows visitors to examine the bridge moving process up close. The museum is open every day to the public between May and October, with free admission days offered each Sunday. Children under five are also free every day of operation.

99 Chicago Riverwalk, Chicago, IL 60601, Phone: 312-977-0227

The National Museum of Mexican Art is one of the United States' most prominent museums dedicated to Mexican culture and artworks and is the first Latino-focused museum in the nation to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The museum was originally founded in 1982 by Carlos Tortolero and opened its doors to the public in 1987, moving to a new state-of-the-art 48,000-square-foot facility in 2001. It houses the United States' largest collection of Mexican art, showcasing more than 10,000 pieces within its permanent collection spanning from the ancient Mexican era to the present day. It is dedicated to principles of education and social justice, striving to connect works and cultures from both sides of the United States-Mexico border. Museum admission is free every operating day, with exhibitions open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays during the morning and afternoon hours. Free cultural programming is also offered regularly, including lectures and theatrical and dance performances.

1852 W 19th St, Chicago, IL 60608, Phone: 312-738-1503

The Harold Washington Library Center is Chicago's central public library, originally constructed in 1991 to replace the city's former central library, which was converted into the Chicago Cultural Center in 1977. The library is the world's largest public library building according to the Guinness Book of Records, spanning more than 972,000 square feet over 10 floors and a rooftop garden area. Impressive architecture by regional firm Hammond, Beeby and Babka showcases Beaux Arts and Mannerist-style design elements, with special collections, a children's library, multimedia centers, and a library makerspace offered for free public use. Public special events are also held at the library's Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, located on the building's first floor, while rotating special exhibits related to civic and arts topics are showcased within its exhibit hall.

400 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605, Phone: 312-747-4300

Hyde Park Art Center is Chicago's oldest alternative exhibition center, originally established in 1939 as the Fifth Ward Art Center of Chicago. Since 2006, it has been located in the city's Kenwood neighborhood north of Hyde Park Boulevard, showcasing a wide variety of exhibits and programming meant to stimulate the city's interest in contemporary visual and multimedia arts. The center presents up to 20 new rotating exhibitions per year, with an emphasis on the works of emerging Chicago and regional Midwestern contemporary and modern artists. More than 200 workshops are also presented annually for artists and community members of all ability levels, along with over 200 free public special events per year, including artist talks and panels and open studio observation times giving community members a chance to see artists create works in real time. The museum is free and open to the public seven days a week, with visitors advised to arrive early during the day to secure parking in the museum's free lot.

5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60615, Phone: 773-324-5520

Lincoln Park Conservatory is one of Chicago's premiere botanical garden facilities, located within the 1,208-acre Lincoln Park, the city's largest public urban park. The conservatory was originally constructed between 1890 and 1895 to replace a smaller former greenhouse within the park and is housed within a Victorian-era glass conservatory building designed by architects Joseph Lyman Silsbee and Mifflin E. Bell. Today, the conservatory offers four display halls and 15 growing houses within its indoor facility, home to native and exotic plants, including significant collections of rare palm tree species and fruit-producing plants. Outdoor collections surrounding the conservatory include a conifer garden, a noted Shakespeare monument, and the Eli Bates Fountain. The conservatory is free and open to the public seven days a week, including admission for special annual flower and plant shows.

2391 N Stockton Dr, Chicago, IL 60614, Phone: 312-742-7736

Lincoln Park Zoo is one of North America's oldest zoological parks, originally founded in 1868 following significant animal donations to Chicago's Lincoln Park from major urban parks and zoos across the country, including New York City's Central Park and the Philadelphia Zoo. Today, the park is one of the United States' few remaining free-admission zoos, home to more than 1,100 animals across 200 species. The zoo, which is an accredited Association of Zoos and Aquariums member facility, spans 35 acres throughout Lincoln Park and showcases animals across a variety of natural habitat exhibits, including the Kovler Lion House, the McCormick Bird House, and the Helen Branch Primate House. A children's zoo area is also offered, along with rainforest, aviary, and aquatic life exhibits. Parking is free for the first half-hour of zoo lot use, with free street parking offered nearby.

2001 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614, Phone: 312-742-2000