Due to Covid-19, many of the free or inexpensive outdoor New Year’s Eve celebrations have been cancelled. A few have come back, though, in 2021. (Updated for New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2021.) Read more
New Year’s Eve in the Midwest for $25 or Less
Indiana
Midwest Zoo Holiday Lights Events
Christmas festivals at zoos have become huge holiday attractions. In the Midwest alone, at least eighteen zoos celebrate with holiday lights, carols, animal shows, and even ice skating rinks. Brookfield Zoo, Chicago’s oldest holiday zoo event, is celebrating its 40th year in 2021. But the very first zoo holiday lights event in the nation was Indianapolis Zoo’s Christmas at the Zoo, which dates back to 1967!
Many other zoos have hopped aboard the holiday festival train over the years. Here are a few highlights of eighteen Midwest zoo holiday lights events for 2021, listed by state: Read more
Indiana Welcome Center Celebrates ‘A Christmas Story’
“You’ll shoot your eye out!” Everyone who has seen the movie, A Christmas Story, knows that line. And with the movie constantly in the top movie picks for the holiday season, who hasn’t seen it—at least once? The movie, released in 1983, is based on author Jean Shepherd’s childhood years in his hometown of Hammond, Indiana. Hammond is once again celebrating the movie during the Christmas season at the Indiana Welcome Center. The 2021 event runs from November 13 through January 2, 2022. Read more
Community Veterans Memorial: Honoring Our Nation’s Heroes
Touring the Community Veterans Memorial in Munster, Indiana, is like winding your way through U.S. Military history. From sculptures to landscaping, the memorial takes you through 20th century wars. Read more
Classic Car Exhibit Opens at Indiana Welcome Center
On January 16, 1967, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme wouldn’t have made it through the streets of Hammond, Indiana—or anywhere in the Chicago area. That was the day 20 inches of snow pummeled Chicagoland. The ’67 Cutlass is one of more than a dozen antique and classic cars in the Cruisin’ Through the Times exhibit at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond, Indiana. This classic car exhibit, which runs through April 28, 2020, pairs each car with a newspaper headline from The Times of Northwest Indiana. The headline year coincides with the year the vehicle was manufactured. Read more
Chicago Travel and Adventure Show 2020
As Midwest winter winds blow and temperatures drop, we dream about warm weather and sunshine. Turn those dreams into reality by starting your planning at the Chicago Travel and Adventure Show. The popular travel show returns to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, on February 8 and 9, 2020. Read more