Drinking & Writing Festival

The Drinking & Writing Brewery is pleased to bring you its first annual Drinking & Writing Festival, a day of discussions, performances and beer dealing with the traditions of drinking and writing. There will be a book sale, panel discussions on famous drinkers and writers and on the history of beer, and a writing competition, among other festivities. If you've got a little Hemingway in you, head over to The Hopleaf at 5148 N. Clark St., from 2-7pm, to join in. Tickets are $20 and include beer samples. Call 773-793-9408 for more information.

Chasing Billy Caldwell

Free Walking, a "nomadic social experiment that seeks to explore Chicago on foot," will meet tonight at 5:30pm, at Peterson and Sauganash, to wander through the neighborhood named for early Chicago resident Billy Caldwell. Sarah Kanouse will lead tonight's walk. Contact Bonnie Fortune at lefortune[at]gmail[dot] for questions.

Printers Row Book Fair

All hail the Printers Row Book Fair! Five blocks of booksellers, independent and, you know, Borders, selling their stuff amongst wonderful smells of cooking meats. It's a lovely summer outing. Loads of authors will be making appearances for readings and signings and such, so be sure to visit the site for a full listing of events. Everyone from Wendy McClure to Nick Hornby to Naomi Wolf will be there. You should too. Free and open to the public, 10am-6pm.

Choice Rocks

The wonderful folks at Phyllis' Musical Inn (1800 Division St.) are helping Northwest Chicago Choice raise some much-needed cash for their endless pursuit in making reproductive health accessible to all (not to mention keeping keeping abortion legal), by letting them invite several wonderful bands to play tonight. Doors open at 8:30 and music starts at 9. A very affordable $5 cover gets you in to see the likes of: Traci Kunath, Ludus Love Style, Firelight Rising, Nyco, Castration DJ, Captain Krack, and other guests. Sounds like a rockin' good time, to me.

Too Much Light Kids!

The Neo-Futurists present "Too Much Light Kids!", a family-friendly version of their long-running late-night show Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. GB's Alejandra Valera reviewed the show when it ran last December; read the review here. Appropriate for ages 6 and up, "Too Much Light Kids!" happens at 2:00 PM on Saturday afternoons through June 25 at the Neo-Futurarium. Admission: kids get in for $1-6 ($1 x the roll of a six-sided die), adults get in for $8-13 ($7 + the roll of a six-sided die). Group rates available; call (773) 878-4557 for details. Neo-Futurarium: 5153 N. Ashland (at Foster). General show details: (773) 275-5255.

Northcenter Ribfest

Do you like live music and ribs? Here's the event for you! The Northcenter Ribfest happens today and tomorrow on Lincoln Avenue between Irving Park and Warner. Expect plenty of food, most of it ribs (and if you're a chef, you might want to participate in the amateur cook-of tomorrow). Among the bands performing today: Dayna Malow; Devil in A Woodpile; Anne Harris; and Vanessa Davis. Ribfest happens from noon to 10:00 PM both days; check the Website for more details.

The Book Cellar One-Year Anniversary Party

The Book Cellar bookstore in Lincoln Square is celebrating its one-year anniversary today, and the store's owner is having a party to mark the occasion. From 7pm-10pm there will be wine, raffles, readings by Young Chicago Authors and more. The Book Cellar is located at 4736 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Visit the website for more details. Congratulations!

Staff member AM will be at this event.

Andersonville Midsommarfest

The 40th annual Midsommarfest, the Andersonville neighborhood's festival of music, food and the arts, runs today and tomorrow near the corner of Clark & Foster. There will be four separate music stages set up around the festival; check the Andersonville Website for a complete schedule of performers. The festival runs from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM today and tomorrow, and admission is a $5 donation, which benefits the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce.