Pritzker Pavillion in the Winter, Millennium Park, Chicago

Whirl and twirl your way through the month of February on the ice or on the stage at the free Chicago Winter Dance fes­ti­val in the award-winning Millennium Park.

From ice danc­ing and ice skat­ing lessons at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink to dance lessons behind the glass doors on the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage, there is some­thing for every­one this win­ter in Chicago.

“February is a great time for both vis­i­tors and res­i­dents to get out and enjoy Chicago,” said Dorothy Coyle, Director, Chicago Office of Tourism.

“Millennium Park’s cen­tral loca­tion, superb facil­i­ties, and nat­ural beauty make it the per­fect loca­tion for a new win­ter fes­ti­val. With free Chicago Winter Dance activ­i­ties every week­end and great rates at hotels, Chicago is an ideal des­ti­na­tion for vis­i­tors look­ing for a refresh­ing win­ter getaway.”

Visit explorechicago.org for more infor­ma­tion about Chicago Winter Dance or to book hotel accom­mo­da­tions. Following is a sched­ule of free events and pro­grams tak­ing place this February:

Ice Skating Lessons

Saturdays and Sundays, February 6 – 28, 8 – 10 am
McCormick Tribune Ice Rink

Learn the basics of ice skat­ing and play fun and inter­ac­tive games on the ice in the beauty of Millennium Park. These fam­ily friendly morn­ing ses­sions are open to Chicagoans and vis­i­tors of all ages and skill levels.

Ice Dancing Performances and Extended Rink Hours for Public Skating

Fridays and Saturdays, February 5 – February 27, 7 – 11 pm
McCormick Tribune Ice Rink

Weekend nights will offer spec­tac­u­lar Ice Dancing per­for­mances, live DJ sets and extended ice rink hours for skat­ing and ice danc­ing. Special themed nights high­light­ing a vari­ety of music gen­res will be announced.

Dance Lessons and Dancing

Saturdays and Sundays, February 6 –28
Jay Pritzker Pavilion

• 1 pm Dance Lesson
• 2 – 4 pm Open Dancing
• 5 pm – Dance Lesson
• 6 – 8 pm – Open Dancing

In SummerDance style, vis­i­tors will be offered one hour dance lessons fol­lowed by open danc­ing behind the glass doors on the Pritzker Stage.

The music will be broad­cast through the speak­ers on the trel­lis of the Great Lawn so that even those strolling through the Park can enjoy the sights and sounds of danc­ing on the Pritzker Stage. Dance styles will include Steppin’, Tango, Swing, Country Line Dancing, World/Folk, Ballroom and Cajun, and will be accom­pa­nied by a DJ or live music.

Admission is free but space is lim­ited. Doors open 30 min­utes before the lessons begin. Early arrival is recommended.

Beverages and warm refresh­ments from the Park Grill will be on sale in the Pritzker Pavilion and near the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink.

Chicago Winter Dance is pre­sented by the Chicago Office of Tourism. A divi­sion of the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Chicago Office of Tourism is the offi­cial City agency ded­i­cated to pro­mot­ing Chicago to domes­tic and inter­na­tional vis­i­tors and to pro­vid­ing inno­v­a­tive vis­i­tor pro­grams and services.

Visitors and Chicagoans plan­ning to enter­tain out-of-town guests can receive Chicago brochures, reserve hotel accom­mo­da­tions and receive trip-planning assis­tance by call­ing toll-free 1–877-CHICAGO (1–877-244‑2246), or vis­it­ing explorechicago.org.

Brochures and infor­ma­tion on Chicago’s events and activ­i­ties are also avail­able at the Visitor Information Centers. The cen­ters are located at Chicago Water Works, 163 East Pearson Street at Michigan Avenue and the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 East Randolph Street.

The TTY toll-free num­ber for the hear­ing impaired is 1.866.710.0294.

The Chicago Office of Tourism (@explorechicago) pro­vides a seven-day-a-week Twitter Concierge Service offer­ing advice and sug­ges­tions about the city.

Visitor ser­vice rep­re­sen­ta­tives answer ques­tions and pro­vide infor­ma­tion with a focus on free and dis­counted events and activ­i­ties in neigh­bor­hoods through­out Chicago.

About Millennium Park

Millennium Park, man­aged and pro­grammed by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, is an award-winning cen­ter for art, music, archi­tec­ture and land­scape design.

The result of a unique part­ner­ship between the City of Chicago and the phil­an­thropic com­mu­nity, the 24.5-acre park fea­tures the work of world-renowned archi­tects, plan­ners, artists and designers.

Among Millennium Park’s promi­nent fea­tures are the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophis­ti­cated out­door con­cert venue of its kind in the United States; the inter­ac­tive Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa; the con­tem­po­rary Lurie Garden designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel; and Anish Kapoor’s hugely pop­u­lar Cloud Gate sculp­ture. Since its open­ing in July 2004, Millennium Park has wel­comed more than 16 mil­lion peo­ple, mak­ing it one of the most pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tions in Chicago.

Photo by 24gotham

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