Holiday fun in Chicago: Christmas lights, Hanukkah restaurants, and everything you need to know for a festive week

Chicago Tribune staff, Chicago Tribune
Updated ·10 min read
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While perhaps not quite meeting the breakneck production pace of Santa’s elves, we at the Chicago Tribune have been merrily working away to share all the best and brightest elements of the holiday season in Chicago.

Whether it’s finding the best light shows in town, helping to plan your holiday party with easy snack recipes, offering gift ideas or roundup up the most delicious holiday dinner specials around, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our complete list of 2022 holiday coverage.

Chicago’s Christmas tree in Millennium Park: Where it comes from and when the lighting ceremony takes place

The city’s first official Christmas tree was lit on Christmas Eve 1913 by Mayor Carter H. Harrison Jr., as heralding trumpets played atop the balcony of the Chicago Athletic Association building on Michigan Avenue.

Though the tree’s location has been changed several times since then — including a move in 2015 to Millennium Park — the lighting ceremony has always been a highlight of the holiday season.

Learn more about this year’s tree, the history of the lighting ceremony and more fun facts here.

Chicago’s Christmas weather: The warmest and coldest since 1871

The high of 64 degrees on Dec. 25, 1982 was the warmest Christmas recorded in Chicago since 1871. The following year, however, Chicago experienced the low temperature of minus 17 degrees — the city’s coldest Christmas.

Here’s a chronological look back at how the Chicago Tribune covered the Top 10 Christmas temperature highs and lows.

Will Chicago see a white Christmas this year? Here’s what more than 150 years of weather data predict for Dec. 25.

The National Weather Service considers Christmas to be white only when snow depth on the ground is 1 inch or more the morning of Dec. 25.

So, any snow that could fall later that day? Pretty, but it doesn’t count.

Based on climate normals from 1991-2020, the National Centers for Environmental Information predicts the probability of a white Christmas each here. Here’s what they have to say for 2022.

Christmas tamales: What tamale-making means to one Chicago family, plus 6 spots to pick up your own

Making and giving tamales with family is a tradition deeply tied to Mexican celebrations during Christmastime, from Las Posadas, the processional re-enactment of the biblical Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging; and el Día de los Reyes, or Three Kings’ Day. The communal ritual of making tamales — whether with family members or during a tamalada gathering — also strengthens the bond many have with the corn husk-wrapped dish.

“We’ve been making them for as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid,” Maria Elena Ortiz-Torres said. Find out more about her family’s tamale rituals — and six restaurants offering tamales for carryout leading up to Christmas.

Keepers of the flame: Jewish restaurants in Chicagoland honoring tradition while forging new paths

As Hanukkah celebrations get underway, Jewish restaurants across Chicagoland are ushering in this year’s Festival of Lights in ways as resilient as they are delicious.

The Chicago Tribune embarked on a similarly spanned jaunt, surveying how one of the world’s oldest belief systems is channeled into culinary excellence at eight restaurants in Chicago and the suburbs.

Holiday lights around Chicago: 12 displays for 2022, from Botanic Garden to the zoos (with some indoor options too)

What better way to celebrate the holidays than strolling through the crisp winter air while gazing at some brilliant light displays?

Here is our list of sparkling light shows in and around Chicago, with a few indoor options if you want to avoid the cold, as well as some in-person reports.

7 holiday pop-ups in Chicago perfect for unique memories and cozy indoor boozing

Snow, sleet and freezing rains will become more of a constant as the weather outside gets frightful this winter.

But these indoor holiday delights, including a lumberjack lodge, brunch with Santa and plenty of photo ops offer something for everyone in your crew — and a few even continue after December, so the holiday spirit can carry you into 2023.

9 tried-and-true cookbooks that make perfect holiday gifts — including 3 by Chicagoans

If you’re the type of cook with well-thumbed cookbooks filled with your most-used recipes — or know someone who is — you understand how essential they are.

So we at the Chicago Tribune have pulled together a list of our top tried-and-trues — the desert island cookbooks, if you will. Give them to a loved one who might be new to cooking or an old pro who could use some new ideas.

Books to give as gifts for the 2022 holidays. If the message you want to send is ...

Writer Christopher Borrelli has a list of great books to give as gifts, as well as the message it sends to the recipient. Wanna say “You watch too many movies, I want you to read, but I’m doubtful?” He’s got just the books to say that.

33 Christmas specials from Chicago-area restaurants, from Indian feasts to vegan pies

Chicago goes all out when it comes to celebrating the holiday season, with spectacular light displays, parades and theatrical productions.

The area’s restaurants get just as festive, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts available to either dine-in or take out if you prefer to celebrate at home. Give yourself the gift of some great food by booking one of these Christmas meals.

20 Hanukkah specials from Chicagoland restaurants, from sweet sufganiyot to latkes galore

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, runs from Dec. 18-26 this year, chasing away the winter chill with nightly candle lighting and hearty meals with an emphasis on fried food.

Restaurants and bakeries throughout the Chicago area are making celebrating easier by serving up traditional holiday fare like potato latkes and sufganiyot for dine-in or as part of to-go packages for gatherings at home.

40 holiday concerts and shows for 2022: From ‘Cirque Dreams’ to ‘Nutcracker’ and ‘Messiah,’ we have the best performances to celebrate the season

This year’s holiday events calendar is packed with shows for everyone. From Joffrey Ballet’s Chicago-themed version of “The Nutcracker” to “Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol,” here is our guide for putting a little extra cheer into the rest of the year.

It’s the holidays, what Chicago shows should I see? A few critic’s picks for the season

If that comprehensive guide is a little overwhelming, critic Chris Jones highlights a few shows to watch, including Goodman Theatre’s classic “A Christmas Carol” and Northlight Theatre’s fun take on Jane Austen with “Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley.”

54 easy party snack ideas for the holidays

These fun and festive snacks are the types of no-recipe recipes that are more about shopping and assembling than precise measuring.

Pick one or two from each category, aiming for a happy balance of textures and flavors. For gathering the whole family, re-watching “Elf” with your cat and every special occasion in between, here’s an app for that.

Beery Christmas and Hoppy New Year: 10 festive beers to stuff in your holiday stocking

Candy canes are fun. Gift cards are useful. But nothing festively stuffs a stocking — or brightens a Hanukkah or Kwanzaa for that matter — quite like a beer tasting of the season.

Here are our 10 favorite festive finds, listed in alphabetical order, each guaranteed to help create the happiest of holidays.

  • Holiday advice for home bartenders, plus 4 festive cocktails

Up your holiday wine game with 9 perfect picks for Christmas and New Year’s Eve

There’s nothing more festive than that pop of Champagne and a resounding clink of glasses to ring in the holiday season.

But with Christmas and New Year’s festivities looming, choosing wines for the steady succession of holidays can be a bit stressful too. Chicago sommeliers are here to help, offering their expertise for the season, with best bottles for each holiday.

Tribune’s Holiday Cookie Contest 2022: Get the winning recipes

Our three winning cookie recipes for the 36th annual Holiday Cookie Contest offer an ideal variety of cookies for spreading cheer this season.

Find the recipes for Decorated Snickerdoodle Sugar Cookies, Marbled Pistachio Almond Cookies, and our first-place winner, Chocolate Salted-Caramel Surprise Cookies. Learn more about how they crafted their award-winning recipes here.

Avocado Poinsettia Pie and cold Sea Foam Jell-O Salad: Testing vintage Chicago Tribune Christmas recipes from the ’50s and ’60s

These vintage Tribune recipes were easy to complete, even for a novice cook. It was harder to find some of the ingredients in the grocery store — who has pimento strips these days? — than it was to prep these dishes. A half-century later, nothing was lost in translation.

Ready for Plowy McPlowface? Chicago launches its first snowplow-naming contest for city residents

Snow-prah Winfrey, Bill-izzard Murray, Salt-er Payton, Jane Brrrrr-ne or Mrs. O’Leary’s Plow could be coming to a Chicago street near you this winter.

The city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation launched its first-ever contest to name six snowplows — one for each snow district — in its fleet of almost 300 baby-blue “Snow Fighting Trucks.” Find out how to enter here.

Brrrrr down: A look at the coldest Chicago Bears games at Soldier Field

The Bears are 6-4 during their 10 coldest games at Soldier Field since they began playing their home games there in 1971 — including 3 wins and 2 losses against the Packers.

Here’s a rundown of each game, the starting temperatures, and the chilling outcomes.

Movie Top 10 for the holidays: From a new ‘Scrooge’ to an old Christmas romance you’ve never seen

Critic Michael Phillips’ list of holiday flicks offers something for everyone: Some movies are old. Some aren’t. Some you know. Some you won’t. Some are grisly. Most are not. Happy viewing and stay warm.

Top 10 for your holiday TV watching: From warm and retro to ‘Baking It’

These days, holiday television offerings span a range of categories: Cheapo movies, reality shows, old classics you can dig up on streaming and more. Critic Nina Metz offers a sampling of what you can watch this season.

5 cheesy holiday rom-coms that are actually good

If you’re particularly interested in cheesy holiday romantic comedies like “The Christmas Prince” and “Princess Switch,” Deputy senior editor Kayla Samoy offers a selection of five movies that have just the right level of cheese and are actually worth watching.

Column: An avalanche of holiday cards for LGBTQ people shunned by their families — and a special kindness behind 100 of them

A few weeks ago, columnist Heidi Stevens wrote about a campaign to send holiday cards to LGBTQ folks who’ve been shunned by their families — who aren’t invited home, who’ve been cut off from the warmth of tradition — because of who they are or who they love.

As soon as her article posted, she started getting a flood of messages from people who wanted to contribute.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in Chicago. Here’s how the popular Christmas character — and its author — went down in history.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was conceived for a purely Scrooge-like reason — to make money.

Thankfully, its creator saw the Montgomery Ward marketing campaign as an opportunity to be as bold in his writing as the fantastical flying stag with a blindingly bright beak he invented. More than 80 years after its inception, here’s how Rudolph — a completely Chicago concoction — became a Christmas icon.

Just in time for the holidays: The 12 stages of the Midwest Goodbye

“‘Tis the season for lingering in doorways,” Christopher Borrelli writes. “We spend so much time standing on a threshold, one hand on a doorknob, resisting leftovers, hugging, promising to return, resisting leftovers once again, listening to just one more story, being unable to extract ourselves.”

Here he explains the Midwest Goodbye.

Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.