Explore accessible events!

How to use the calendar

Filter events by typing keywords into the search field below, or click on a keyword in an event to filter all events by that category.

Select "Submit an Event" to have your cultural organization's accessible event added to the Access Calendar.  

submit an event

Patti Smith and Lynn Goldsmith: Before Easter After at University of Chicago

University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago

Legendary celebrity and rock-n-roll photographer, Lynn Goldsmith has captured the biggest stars with her skilled lens. She’s chronicled the careers of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and her longtime friend and collaborator, Patti Smith. A Chicago Humanities favorite, Patti Smith is one of America’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters and a beloved photographer […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Open Captions

Hoop Dreams at 30 at University of Chicago

University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts 915 E 60th St, Chicago

Hoop Dreams was famously called “the great American documentary” by Roger Ebert. It’s also, of course, a quintessentially Chicago film. Hoop Dreams turns 30 this year, its story of two young Chicagoans (Arthur Agee and William Gates) trying to become professional basketball players as resonant as ever. Arthur and William, along with director/producer Steve James […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Open Captions

A Talk on Dance and Movement with Kyle Abraham at University of Chicago

University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts 915 E 60th St, Chicago

As part of our fall festival examination of movement, we explore the primal human expression of physical movement and the artistic and cultural foundations of dance with leading choreographer Kyle Abraham. With his company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, he creates a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history and features […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Open Captions

Fugitive/Refuge: Philip Metres and Faisal Mohyuddin at Poetry Foundation

Poetry Foundation 61 W Superior St, Chicago

Philip Metres will read from his new book Fugitive/Refuge, an extended qasidah reflecting on exile and family histories of forced migration from global violence. Chicago poet Faisal Mohyuddin will read from his new book Elsewhere: An Elegy, a meditative and spare collection on fatherhood and grief. Murmurs from the poets: A toast to the migrants […]

  • ASL Interpreted
  • Closed Captions
  • Free Event
  • Hybrid Program

Family Day | Screen Time at Museum of Contemporary Art

Museum of Contemporary Art 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago

Designed for children under 12 and their grown-ups, MCA Family Days invite our youngest visitors to be the museum’s artists, thinkers, and collaborators. Witness an artist’s first creation. Experience inspiration spark from play and wonder. Do something nearly unheard of in a contemporary art museum—sit on comfy pillows and eat free snacks. Every second Saturday, […]

  • ASL Interpreted

Christopher Cox on Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn at University of Chicago

University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago

Former fifth-ranking leader in the US House of Representatives, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and senior associate counsel to President George W. Bush, Christopher Cox leads a discussion on President Woodrow Wilson's profound and disturbing influence in the fights for women's voting rights and racial justice, accentuating the importance of historical awareness […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Open Captions

Zip! at Poetry Foundation

Poetry Foundation 61 W Superior St, Chicago

Written by Chicago poet Timothy David Rey, Zip! is a prophetic and ghostly timewarped drama about Nancy Reagan’s fervor for astrology, interlaced with a Black gay love story, set on the eve of the AIDS epidemic and the Reagan assassination attempt. The play runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Zip! is a 2023 semi-finalist […]

  • ASL Interpreted
  • Captioning
  • Free Event
  • Hybrid Program

World Premiere of Community Storytellers Shorts at Gene Siskel Film Center

Gene Siskel Film Center 164 N State St, Chicago

Join us for an evening that brings the soul of Chicago’s neighborhoods to the big screen! Experience the powerful stories of our community through the lens of three talented Chicago residents from the 2023-24 Community Storytellers program: Alexie Young Take 290 (15:53; North Lawndale, Westside) Directed by Sanicole Written by George Ellzey Jr. A defeated […]

  • ASL Interpreted
  • Audio Description
  • Captioning
  • Closed Captions
  • In Person
  • Wheelchair Accessible

Calm Waters at Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium 1200 S DuSable Lak Shore Dr,, Chicago

Calm Waters is an exclusive event for guests with disabilities and Veterans to explore Shedd Aquarium’s exhibits and experiences in a comfortable and accepting environment. Modifications for this event will include limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration. Modifications for Calm Waters Include: Limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration A sensory friendly […]

  • All Gender Restrooms
  • ASL Interpreted
  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Free Event
  • In Person
  • Sensory Friendly
  • Wheelchair Accessible

A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Edge Theater

The Edge Theater 5451 N. Broadway, Chicago

Four Athenians run away to the forest in the name of love (reciprocated and otherwise). They find themselves in the midst of a war between Titania and Oberon, the king and queen of the fairies, over a changeling boy in Titania’s charge. In the midst of this conflict, local workers are attempting (poorly) to rehearse […]

  • All Gender Restrooms
  • Digital Documents Available
  • Open Captions
  • Wheelchair Accessible

Tegan and Sara on Junior High and Crushes at Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture

Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture 2936 N Southport Ave, Chicago

Tegan and Sara are indie-pop royalty, twin sisters, and bestselling authors of a young adult graphic novel duology. Crush, the second book in this autobiographically-inspired series, explores the teenage world of crushes, crushing it, and being crushed by life — all wrapped in a queer lens. Join Chicago Humanities in conversation with Tegan and Sara […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Open Captions

Milo Imagines The World at Chicago Children’s Theatre

Chicago Children's Theatre 100 S Racine Ave, Chicago

MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD is a musical odyssey of imagination. Through vibrant song, expressive dance, and a whole lot of imagination, this magical, musical journey takes us through the mind […]

  • Audio Description
  • In Person
  • Sensory Friendly
  • Touch Tour

Anne Curzan: Says Who? at Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture

Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture 2936 N Southport Ave, Chicago

Language is constantly changing. Linguist and veteran English professor Anne Curzan is here to help us decipher its “rules.” Written with lively humor and humanity, Curzan’s newest book Says Who? […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Open Captions

“Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller: HBO’s Somebody Somewhere” at Chop Shop

Chop Shop 2033 W North Ave, Chicago

Expect unfiltered stories and insights as these two friends and collaborators take the stage to discuss their rise in New York's alt-cabaret and improv comedy scene to starring roles in […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • In Person
  • Wheelchair Accessible

Primary Trust at the Goodman Theatre

Goodman Theatre 170 N Dearborn St, Chicago

An open-hearted, “utterly absorbing, very funny, darn near perfect play” (The Daily Beast) about leaving your comfort zone to find fulfillment. Meet Kenneth, a 38-year-old longtime bookstore worker, who is […]

  • ASL Interpreted
  • Audio Description
  • Low Lighting
  • Open Captions
  • Sensory Friendly
  • Touch Tour

Milo Imagines The World at Chicago Children’s Theatre

Chicago Children's Theatre 100 S Racine Ave, Chicago

MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD is a musical odyssey of imagination. Through vibrant song, expressive dance, and a whole lot of imagination, this magical, musical journey takes us through the mind […]

  • ASL Interpreted
  • In Person
  • Open Captions
  • Sensory Friendly

Writing on Eggshells: Political Comedy Cracked Up At Northwestern University

Northwestern University - Norris University Center 1999 Campus Dr, Evanston

What’s it like to write for the most popular late-night comedy shows in America when the news already feels like a satire of itself? Second City’s Kelly Leonard sits down with Chicago-bred talent who have written for the hottest shows in late night: Ali Barthwell (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), Peter Grosz (The Colbert […]

  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Open Captions

Talk | Politics of Poetics: Heid E. Erdrich and Andrea Carlson at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Museum of Contemporary Art 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago

Politics of Poetics is a series of readings and workshops that highlights influential contemporary poets whose practices traverse the political through writing, teaching, and activism. This fall, poet Heid E. Erdrich reads new work and selections from her award-winning book of poetry, Little Big Bully (2020) and Curator of Ephemera at the New Museum of […]

  • ASL Interpreted
  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Captioning