Sunday picks: It's swing time at the Hemmens

Celebrate swing

Vocal and performing ensemble Five By Design joins again with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra for a nostalgic look back at the 1940s with the show “Club Swing” this weekend at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. $18-$68. (847) 888-4000 or elginsymphony.org. 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Bluegrass celebration

The 19th annual Great Northern Bluegrass Music Festival takes place this weekend at the Hyatt Regency, 1800 E. Golf Road, Schaumburg. National touring acts and regional favorites will perform, including Special Consensus, the Boxcars, Copper Creek, Donna Ulisse & the Poor Mt. Boys and the Harmans. The festival also will include a guitar trade show, instrument workshops and more. Suburban bluegrass fans are lucky to have a festival with this much talent happen in their own backyard. Tickets are available at the door. For prices and a full schedule, go to bluegrassmidwest.com. Starts at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 24

Spring Weekend at the Farm

Take part in Easter egg hunts, head out on a hayride and view baby chicks, hens and bull calves at the Spring Weekend at the Farm event at Susanna Farms, 24153 Town Line Road, Lake Villa. Guests can take part in the activities, which include a spring plant sale and viewings of the farm's miniature donkeys and horses. Admission is $2 per person; hayrides are $5. (847) 838-0798 or susannafarms.com. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 24

5,000 eggs!

Capannari Ice Cream hosts its 11th annualEaster egg hunt in the park behind the ice cream shop, at 10 S. Pine St., Mount Prospect. Five thousand Easter eggs will be hidden, for youngsters ages 2-7 to find. The Easter Bunny will be on hand to greet guests. Free. (847) 392-2277 or capannaris.com. Noon Sunday, March 24

Piyesta Pinoy sa Chicago

Celebrate the culture of the Philippines when Philippine Fest Chicago rolls into Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. It's an afternoon of free live music, dance, colorful costumes, authentic cuisine, folk art and more. There will be performances by Sama Sama Project, PACF Performing Arts, the Apuli Brothers, GMA Pinoy TV, Hataw Pinoy Chicago, Chicago Angklung Rondalla Ensemble, Hinsdale Fil-Am SDA Rondalla, Transfiguration Dance Troupe and St. Isidore Simbang Gabi Dance Crew among others. Cuisine provided by Sunda New Asian. (312) 595-7437 or www.navypier.com/neighborhoods/philippine.html. Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Swim with the Bunny

Meet the Easter Bunny at the Swim with the Bunny celebration at the Pavilion Aquatic Center, 1000 Wellington Ave., Elk Grove Village. Youngsters are invited to play games, swim and collect Easter eggs in the pool. Those eggs can be traded in for prizes. The Easter Bunny himself will be on hand to meet with children and pose for photos. Participants should bring a swim suit and a basket for collecting eggs. Registration is required by Saturday, March 23. Parents must register with their children. Cost is $5 for all adults; $7 for resident children and $10 for nonresident children. Sign up in person at the pavilion, call (847) 593-6248 or visit elkgroveparks.org. 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24

A tale of two rabbits

“The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny” is featured onstage at the Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. This musical adaptation is based upon “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” the classic children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. $10-$15. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com. 1 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Big top wows

See exotic animals and daring performers do amazing feats of strength, balance, timing and more when the “Circus Spectacular” plays this weekend at the Sears Centre Arena, 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates. $20-$45; $10 parking. (888) 732-7784 or searscentre.com. 1:30 and 6 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Curiouser & curiouser

Salt Creek Ballet pursues the White Rabbit and questions the Cheshire Cat when it revives its dance interpretation of Lewis Carroll's “Alice in Wonderland” this weekend at the Norris Cultural Arts Center, 1040 Dunham Road, St. Charles, $28; $25 for kids 12 and younger. (630) 769-1199 or saltcreekballet.org. 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24

'The Gathering'

Improv Playhouse reprises its production of “The Gathering,” Josephine Raciti Forsberg's contemporary adaptation of the Last Supper that takes place during a Seder. Shahab Astabraghpour, of Waukegan, stars as The Teacher in director David Brian Stuart's production at the theater, 735 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. $22.50, $17.50 (847) 968-4529 or improvplayhouse.com. 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Chicago Chamber Musicians

The Lake Forest Lyrica presents An Afternoon of Debussy and Beethoven,a chamber music concert by the Chicago Chamber Musicians in the Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel of Lake Forest College, 555 N. Sheridan Road, Lake Forest. $5-$15. Free for Lake Forest College students, faculty and staff. (847) 234-3100. 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Life is a carnival

Carnivale, 702 W. Fulton Market, Chicago, invites families to kick off the season with its annual Spring Break Family Night event. Festivities will include an action photo booth, face painter, balloon artist, stilt walker, magician, coloring stations, cotton candy station and a special kids menu. Free admission. (312) 850-5005 or www.carnivalechicago.com. 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Spider Saloff in concert

Renowned jazz vocalist Spider Saloff brings her concert “Cole Porter, Swell Party!” to North Central College's Madden Theatre at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Tickets cost $30-$35. (630) 637-7469 or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix. 6 p.m. Sunday, March 24

Colonna Lately

Sarah Colonna, a writer and round-table regular for “Chelsea Lately,” performs this weekend at Zanies in Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. (630) 584-6342 or zanies.com. $25 plus two menu-item purchase. 7 p.m. Sunday, March 24