Chicago's professional sports players team up to support The Halloween Gathering

Organizers announce festival and parade line-up

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Oct 08, 2015, 07:00 ET

CHICAGO, Oct. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago Cultural Mile Association today released a promotional video on their Facebook page featuring Chicago's favorite professional sports teams encouraging viewers to participate in The Halloween Gathering on the Chicago Cultural Mile, Chicago's newest citywide celebration. The Halloween Gathering, scheduled for Saturday, October 24, 2015, will gather Chicago's vast and diverse creative communities for an all-day festival, culminating in the evening with a magical spectacle parade to which the City of Chicago and neighboring communities are invited.

Chicago's professional sports players team up to support The Halloween Gathering

"The video, featuring players from the Cubs, Blackhawks, Bulls, and Sox as well as Staley from the Chicago Bears, reminds us that in addition to having great players and fans in Chicago, we have one of the world's greatest cultural communities," according to J.R. Davis, Chairman and President of the Chicago Cultural Mile Association. "Organizations and artists from the north side to the south side and from all points in between will be on display at one great citywide Halloween celebration," he added.

Drawing together world-renowned institutions such as the Field Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Joffrey Ballet, Columbia College Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians as well as unique local organizations such as Louder Than a Bomb, the Silent Theatre Company and guilds of artists in assorted fields, this dramatic display will activate Halloween as the "artist's holiday" along one of the most prestigious cultural avenues in the world.

"Based on the overwhelming response we are receiving, we believe The Halloween Gathering is well on its way to becoming an iconic annual event," explained Sharene Shariatzadeh, Executive Director of the Chicago Cultural Mile. "It is our hope that The Halloween Gathering will celebrate the power and scope of Chicago's artistic community and ignite the imagination of audiences of all ages," she said.

The Halloween Gathering event will officially begin at 2:00pm with The Halloween Gathering Festival. "Parks and institutions along the Chicago Cultural Mile will be alive with family-friendly activities including mask-making workshops, free dance and theatre performances, pop-up installations, interactive experiences and more," Shariatzadeh added. "Festival highlights include a children's costume procession around the ribbon at Maggie Daley Park, children's workshops in the Chase Pavilion South Tent in Millennium Park and so much more."

The event will culminate at The Halloween Gathering Parade, beginning at 6:00pm on Columbus Drive and traveling north from Balbo to Monroe. The Parade will delight the crowd with spectacle, illumination, music and moving performance, and will be led by The Halloween Gathering Creative Spirit Fellows. "These Creative Spirit Fellows are being honored for their contributions to Chicago's artistic landscape," said Mark Kelly, Halloween Gathering Artistic Director and VP of Student Success at Columbia College Chicago. Additionally, due to the tremendous and wonderfully enthusiastic response, the Zombie Thriller Dance Mob, originally planned around Buckingham Fountain, has been added as a component of our parade. "One thing I will guarantee, this will be a parade like no other," he added.

A complete schedule and list of performances can be found at: http://www.chicagoculturalmile.org/gathering/attend/.

For the enjoyment and safety of everyone participating, the Chicago Cultural Mile Association strongly discourages the wearing of masks by children, because they can obscure their vision in a crowded area in a nighttime environment. Teen and adult spectators are strictly prohibited from wearing masks. Instead, please feel free to use face paint, wigs, etc. Please be aware that the festival and parade will be monitored by the Chicago Police Department, private security officers, parade marshals, staff and other emergency response personnel. If you have a problem of an emergency nature, please contact those responders along the parade route for assistance. PLEASE NOTE: No backpacks, large bags, lawn chairs or large umbrellas will be allowed along the parade route. And Always Remember…"If you see something…Say something!"

Sponsors and Partners of The Halloween Gathering on the Chicago Cultural Mile include:

Arena Americas, Blue Plate Catering, Pamella and Alfredo Capitanini, George Berlin, Event Creative, Park Grill – Millennium Park, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Chicago Park District, Choose Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, Arda Wigs, Chicago Athletic Hotel, Chicago Sports Commission, Italian Village Restaurants

Chicago Cultural Mile Association partner organizations include: Adler Planetarium, American Rhythm Center, American Writers Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, Blue Plate Catering, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago Athletic Hotel, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Library, Chicago Trolley and Double Decker, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, Choose Chicago, Chuck's Manufacturing, City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, The Cliff Dwellers, Coalition Energy, Columbia College Chicago, Comfort Suites, David's Tea, The Field Museum, the Fine Arts Building Studios, Gene Siskel Film Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, Harris Theater at Millennium Park, Hilton Chicago, Hilton Garden Inn Chicago, Hostelling International, Italian Village Restaurants, McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum. Mercat a la Planxa, Metropolitan Towers, Millennium Garages, Millennium Park, Modern Classics, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, National Louis University, Ossia Musical Forum, Pritzker Military Library, Park Grill Millennium Park, Remington's, Renaissance Blackstone Hotel, The Residence at 330, Roosevelt University, Schaffner Communications, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Seven Lions, Skydeck Chicago, SouthLoop Living,Tesori, Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, William Harris Lee & Co., Women's Business Development Center, World Chicago.