Spring in Chicago Heats Up

BEST DATE NEWS

April 10, 2025: Best Date News Volume #121

Welcome to Best Date News, your favorite Chicago weekly newsletter! In this week’s newsletter you will read about the opening of Harry Potter Shop Chicago, Riot Fest, Lionel Messi, the Masters and more!

April 10: National Holidays

• National Siblings Day

• National Golfer’s Day

• National Hug Your Dog Day

• National Erase Self-Negativity Day

• National Farm Animals Day

Sponsored by our friends at Chicago Artisan Market

Chicago Artisan Market

• Chicago Event Alert: The Chicago Artisan Market is back this weekend for an awesome two-day, local shopping experience! The market will take place at Artifact Events in Ravenswood this Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• The market brings together 100+ of the best local artisans all under one roof. It’s the perfect spring date idea! You can eat and drink while you shop indoors, you can bring your dog and there is plenty of free parking.

• It’s also easily accessible via train on both the Metra and the CTA. For the Metra, it’s on the Union Pacific North line (Ravenswood stop) and get there on the L via the Brown Line (Montrose stop). If you want to bike, there are close Divvy stations nearby as well.

• Tickets are either one for $8 or four for $20, so if you turn it into a double date, it becomes an even better deal! As a heads up, tickets are more expensive at the door, so it makes sense to get them in advance.

Chicago News

• Harry Potter Shop: Harry Potter Shop Chicago officially opened at 676 N. Michigan Ave. this morning. The store took over the massive 12,200 square-foot space that was previously occupied by Express and features themed areas, merchandise, a confectionary, speakeasy-inspired Butterbeer Bar and more (pictures). If you want to see it for yourself, you better get in line now because it currently stretches from Chicago all the way to Hogwarts.

• Riot Fest: Good news for Chicago music fans as Riot Fest has reached a multi-year agreement to keep the music festival at North Lawndale’s Douglass Park through 2027. The annual, three-day fest was established in 2005 and celebrates a variety of music genres including punk, metal rock and hip-hop. Riot Fest will take place Sept. 19-21 this year, but the lineup announcement is set to take place in just a couple weeks on April 23. The final ticket pre-sale just went live at 10 a.m. today.

• Best Food Cities: Chicago has been named the second best food city in the U.S. for 2025 according to Food & Wine’s third annual Global Tastemakers Awards. They surveyed over 400 chefs, travel experts, food and travel writers and wine pros to determine their rankings of the Top 10 U.S. Cities for Food and Drink. It’s safe to say that Chicagoans weren’t pleased coming in second if you read the comments on our post.

• Lionel Messi: Soccer’s biggest star is once again set to be in Chicago as Lionel Messi and Inter Miami take on the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on Sunday (tickets). You may recall that Messi missed the previous two games when Inter Miami came to Chicago, so hopefully he suits up for this match. Third time’s the charm, right?! Dive deeper.

• Weekend Plans: It’s supposed to be a nice spring weekend with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. We may even see some sun! Not sure how to make the most of it? Here are 25 Things To Do In Chicago This Weekend.

Just For Fun

• The Masters: Golf’s biggest tournament returns today as the 2025 Masters Tournament takes place at Augusta National Golf Club from Thursday, April 10 through Sunday, April 13. Can’t make it to Augusta? No problem! See the best spots to watch the Masters in Chicago.

• Hibachi Giveaway: We have teamed up with Rockstar Hibachi to give away three different prizes totaling $1,000! Don’t miss your chance to win an at-home hibachi party for you and your friends. It’s so fun! Our giveaway ends tomorrow, so go enter now.

• Orlando Bloom: FAN EXPO Chicago will take place Aug. 15-17 this year in Rosemont. It’s a three-day convention focused around comics, sci-fi, gaming and more. They just announced that Orlando Bloom is going to be there this year and photo ops to meet him go on sale Monday, April 14 at 10 a.m.

• Cubs Couple: The perfect display of “Best Date Food” may have taken place yesterday at Wrigley Field as couple sitting front row of the Cubs game went viral for sharing a Chicago dog “Lady and the Tramp” style.

• Pizza Madness: Congratulations to everyone who won their March Madness brackets! During March, WGN Radio here in Chicago conducted their own Chicago Pizza Madness Tournament to determine Chicagoland’s favorite pizza place. Have a guess at who won? The winner may surprise you.

Chicago Product of the Week

• Chicago Food Art Print: New section alert! We are adding in a section of the newsletter where we will look to show off cool and fun Chicago products! We will start with this Chicago Food Art Print!

• What is it: “Digital art print of a watercolor I drew depicting some of my favorite restaurants in Chicago.”

• Who makes it: Nikodudel, an Etsy shop by artist Ben N.

• How much: $40

• Where to get it: Etsy

Poll Question of the Week

Last Newsletter's Poll Results

Poll Results: Last newsletter we asked if you think April Fool’s Day is a fun holiday, and for the first time in a while, we have a perfectly split poll. Half of you think it’s fun and half of you are not a fan.

Sunrise & Sunset in Chicago

Here is today’s outlook in Chicago (compared to last week):

• Sunrise: 6:17 a.m. (12 minutes earlier)

• Sunset: 7:26 p.m. (8 minutes later)

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