Best Bets: ‘Forbidden Forest’ welcomes Harry Potter fans and Naper Settlement celebrates Oktoberfest
The ‘Forbidden Forest’ welcomes you
For Harry Potter fans, the long wait is over. “Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience” opens this weekend at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago’s Camp Duncan, 32405 N. Route 12, Ingleside. A partnership between Warner Bros. Global Discovery Experience, Fever and IMG Arts & Entertainment, the attraction is set in the Forbidden Forest of the “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” book series and film franchises and features creatures such as Hippogriffs, unicorns and Nifflers. Visitors follow a milelong, looped trail theatrically staged with lighting, sound effects and props that bring the creatures to life. Timed entry tickets start at $46 for adults and $31 for kids. hpforbiddenforestexperience.com. Hikes begin Friday, Oct. 3, and run Wednesday through Sunday through January 2026
Oktoberfest in Naperville
Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville, hosts its annual Oktoberfest celebration this weekend. In addition to German beers and food, the event includes music ranging from 1990s pop to polka, a stein-holding contest and kids’ activities. $25 for adults, $15 for kids 4-12, and free for Naper Settlement members. napersettlement.org/oktoberfest. 5-10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, and 3-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4
For opera fans
• Chicago City Opera commemorates the 150th anniversary of Georges Bizet’s tragic opera “Carmen” with its production conducted by artistic director Alexandra Enyart and featuring Angela Born as Carmen and Jordan Loyd as Don José. Performances take place at Horatio May Chapel, Rosehill Cemetery, 5800 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago. $30, $40. chicagocityopera.com. 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4
• The baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire opens its fifth season this weekend with performances of “Dido and Aeneas,” Henry Purcell’s opera retelling the ancient myth of Queen Dido, who is seduced and abandoned by Trojan War hero Aeneas, chronicled by Virgil in “The Aeneid.” Aryssa Leigh Burrs plays Dido and Edward Vogel plays Aeneas. $30-$85. apollosfire.org. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, at Nichols Concert Hall, Music Institute of Chicago, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston, and 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., Chicago
Remembering Davenport's
The Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Ave., Skokie, salutes Davenport’s Piano Bar and Cabaret this weekend with some of the cabaret artists who called the shuttered Chicago nightspot home. The three-day homage begins Friday with Davenport’s front-room pianists/singers Andrew Blendermann, Johnny Rodgers and Sami Scot. Davenport’s entertainment director Daryl Nitz hosts Saturday’s show featuring regulars Corey Jamison, Joan Curto, David Edelfeldt, Rob Lindley, Beckie Menzie, Tom Michael and special guest, Broadway veteran and Arlington Heights native, Karen Mason. Sunday’s early show includes Davenport’s staffers Anne and Mark Burnell, Justin Hayford, Laura Freeman, Nikki Krzebiot, Khnemu Menu-Ra, Pamela Sue Fox, Miriam Plotkin and Mary Monica Thomas. Mason concludes the celebration Sunday with the Chicago premiere of “Just in Styne: Karen Sings Jule,” honoring composer Jule Styne (“Gypsy,” “Funny Girl,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”). $35, $45 for Mason’s Sunday concert. (847) 677-7761 or skokietheatre.org. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4, and 5 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5
‘Curious George’ at Kohl Children’s Museum
The Kohl Children’s Museum, 2100 Patriot Blvd., Glenview, debuts “Curious George: Let’s Get Curious,” an exhibition that introduces young children to Curious George’s world through math, science and engineering-related, hands-on activities. Designed and built by Minnesota Children’s Museum in partnership with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group, “Curious George: Let’s Get Curious!” is based on H.A. and Margret Rey’s children’s stories and unfolds in the neighborhood where George lives with The Man in the Yellow Hat. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday and Monday and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. $20 kids and adults, $18 seniors. (847) 832-6600 or kohlchildrensmuseum.org. Saturday, Oct. 4, through Jan. 4, 2026
‘Carmina Burana’ at the MAC
The New Philharmonic, together with the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus and soloists Emily Birsan, Richard Ollarsaba and Thomas Alaan, perform Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” based on 24 medieval poems celebrating life’s pleasures and fickle fortune, at the McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn. The program also includes “Polovtsian Dances” from Alexander Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor.” $59. atthemac.org. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5
New faces at Metropolis
Metropolis Performing Arts Centre artistic director Johanna McKenzie Miller hosts Porchlight Music Theatre’s latest “New Faces Sing Broadway.” The show features up-and-coming theater artists performing hits from “Bye, Bye Birdie,” “Camelot,” “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and “West Side Story” at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. $35. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com. 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6
Spellbinder returns to the Chicago Magic Lounge
Magician and illusionist Walter King Jr., known as The Spellbinder, returns to the Chicago Magic Lounge, 5050 N. Clark St., Chicago, with his autobiographical show “Diary of a Black Illusionist.” The show, chronicling his evolution as an entertainer, is for ages 21 and older. $42-$47.50. (312) 366-4500 or chicagomagiclounge.com. 7 p.m. Wednesdays