May 2, 2008 8:06 am US/Central
More Than 300 Artists To Appear At Looptopia
All-Night Festival Is Back After 200,000 Came Last Year
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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A scene from last year's Looptopia.
CBS
After an estimated 200,000 people descended on the Loop last year for Looptopia, the all-night cultural festival is back, with more than 300 participating artists.
Starting at 5 p.m., the buttoned-up bustle that usually characterizes the Loop will be replaced by a freewheeling celebration with dance, music, film, theatre and other activities.
Looptopia organizers describe it as "a sensory playground celebrating arts, culture, architecture and insomniacs alike. This all-night extravaganza paints the loop as an urban wonderland – it's trippy, it's ethereal, and it's all Chicago."
Click here for a full schedule of events on the Looptopia Web site.
The Looptopia boundaries are Wacker Drive on the north, Congress Parkway on the south, Clark Street on the west and Millennium Park on the east. Larger events are taking place at Daley Plaza, One South Dearborn and the plaza at Chase Tower. The Art Institute, Cultural Center and Gene Siskel Film Center are also participating, among numerous other venues.
Well-known performers from Chicago and elsewhere will appear, among them the shadow puppetry and percussion troupe the Rubber Monkey Puppet Company, and the improv comedy theatre group Schadenfreude.
An interactive game show and an opportunity for visitors to "star" in their own Broadway show will be also featured, and visitors can participate in the creation of a collaborative mural at the lobby of Harold Washington College, 30 E. Lake St.
The avant-garde circus and theatre group the Midnight Circus will return this year, and performers from Cirque du Soleil will also appear.
The festivities continue until 7 a.m.
The idea was inspired by all-night events in Europe called White Nights, which began in Paris, and have since spread to Brussels; Rome; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Madrid, and have appeared in North America in Montreal. Chicago is the first city in the United States to host such an event.
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