The holiday season makes the start of Chicago’s winter dazzling. The city takes every opportunity to get a little festive from the downtown skyscrapers to L cars and historic plazas.
Here we capture some of the city’s most well-known holiday traditions such as dressing up the Art Institute lions, lighting up a 50-foot Christmas tree in Millennium Park, and raising a giant menorah in Daley Plaza. Macy’s holiday window displays and sparkly lights along the Mag Mile are bound to bring cheer, even as the snow comes down and the cold season drags on.
The grand Wrigley Building and the hulking Merchandise Mart are beautiful on their own, however, there’s something special about wandering the downtown corridors when there’s extra sparkle. Just take a look below.
Chicago’s Christmas tree in Millennium Park.The Wrigley building, a mix of French Renaissance and Spanish Revival styles, gets festive.The menorah in Daley Plaza next to the well-known Picasso sculpture and Christkindlmarket.The trees along Michigan Avenue wrapped in twinkly lights. Getty Images/iStockphotoThe famed Marshall Field’s clock anchors the holiday display at Macy’s State Street entrance. APFor many Chicagoans, visiting the Walnut Room inside Macy’s to get a glimpse of the massive tree and special decorations is a yearly tradition. APWrapped in snowflakes and window lights, the CTA holiday train rolls into the station.Inside the holiday trains, there’s candy cane poles, colorful lights, and some workers hand out candy.Millennium Park has a skating ribbon, and then this skating rink right in front of The Bean.TheMart, built in 1930, lights up its Art Deco facade in red and green.The city’s largest holiday light display, Zoolights, at Lincoln Park Zoo uses more than 1 million bulbs.