Visiting a Christmas Makers Market in Chicago!
This week I made a stop at the annual Christmas Makers Market at Schubas Tavern in Lakeview, Chicago. This market is a great example of the events I love to find in the city, all throughout the year. There is so much creative expression, and there are so many ways to find and explore it. I love going to events like these, even if I don’t purchase anything, and I am so excited to share about it.
First, I need to mention the location and atmosphere of Schubas. It’s a pretty standard Chicago dive bar, but it also has a fairly sizable music venue inside and hosts a few shows each week. It’s also connected to a nice restaurant called Tied House that has a really cool vibe. This bar/restaurant combo is conveniently located in the Lakeview neighborhood on the corner of Southport and Belmont, only about 20 minutes from the Lincoln Park campus by public transportation. Like I mentioned, they are always hosting concerts and many are open to those who are 18 years or older, so it’s a popular spot for DePaul students to see some live music.
For the Winter Makers Market event, they primarily utilized the space inside the restaurant, both upstairs and downstairs. They placed tables throughout both floors and there was a ton to see. The bar on the main floor was up and running and there were some great food specials as well. As you can see in the photos, pretty much everything for sale was handmade. There was a pretty decent variety of products for sale, mostly ranging between decorative items, jewelry, gifts, and clothing. I was there with my girlfriend, and she ended up getting some really cute earrings with little dangling skulls on them. They also had a DJ playing music from vinyl records, and everything really added to the cozy atmosphere inside.
For me, this event is a great representation of what makes going to DePaul, and by extension living in Chicago, so amazing. Obviously DePaul provides a ton of fun events for students and I really enjoy going to those, especially with friends I have made in classes and whatnot. However, I think it’s also really fun to experience life outside of the university, and Chicago provides such a great environment to do that. Places like Schubas are all throughout the city and host all kinds of events catered to all kinds of people. I have no doubt that anyone could find fun things to do for whatever interests or hobbies they enjoy. On top of that, being here in the winter allows you to see all of the holiday festivities going on throughout the city. Chicago does not shy away from expressing holiday spirit, and this Winter Makers Market is just one small example.
As I’m sure you can tell, I feel pretty strongly about Chicago during the winter time, I think it gets a bad rap. Yes, it’s cold a lot of the time, but that is quite easy to get over when you see all of the fun things going on. If you consider yourself to be a festive person even just a little bit, or think you might benefit from a little extra holiday spirit, Chicago in the winter time is a must see.
~Jeff