On the road: Here's the beef
Moo-sic to your ears
Do you know someone who sees a rump roast as a thing of beauty? Minocqua's 49th annual Beef-A-Rama celebrates beef in all of its cuts. There's the Parade of Beef, Rump Roast Run, Beef Eating Contest, Moo Calling Contest, storefront beef roast cook-off and a famous beef sandwich sale. After you're sated with sirloin, explore the wares of over 75 artisans and crafters, shopping specials, live entertainment, street dance and children's activities.
8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at Torpy Park, Minoqua, Wis. Free admission. Call (800) 446-6784 or beefarama.com.
Chicago
Design stars
Design Harvest, Chicago's annual street festival celebrating design, offers tents and courtyards filled with modern, vintage and handmade furniture and home accessories. Join art-making activities, take a hay ride or share in family activities such as a hay maze, face painting, scarecrow making and a petting zoo. There also will be live musical entertainment during the two-day festival.
11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday to Sunday, Sept. 28-29, at Grand and Damen avenues, Chicago. Admission $5. (312) 850-9390 or design-harvest.com.
Game-day digs
Football season is finally back, and the Renaissance Blackstone Chicago is giving Chicago Bears' fans something more to cheer about with the Bear Down at the Blackstone hotel package. Present your Chicago Bears game day ticket at check in and receive a discounted room rate for overnight accommodations and complimentary valet parking.
Available on game days through Dec. 31 at 636 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. The package includes $159 room rate and parking. (312) 447-0955 or marriott.com/chirh.
Snazzy jazz
Come enjoy two days of lively grooves and bluesy musical ruminations during the 7th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival. World-class headliners and local emerging artists converge upon venues such as the DuSable Museum, the Logan Center of the Arts, Robie House, the Rockefeller Chapel and two main stages on the Midway Plaisance. All performances are free. There also will be food and refreshments, along with family-friendly activities.
1 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Sept. 28, and 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept 29. Various venues in Hyde Park, Chicago. Free admission. (773) 324-6926 or hydeparkjazzfestival.org
Midwest
Cornish point
The Wisconsin Cornish Society celebrates its heritage in Mineral Point, Wis., with an unusual event that offers costumes, food and fun of the people who emigrated from Cornwall, the most southwestern part of England. The fest includes a Cornish concert, the Taste of Mineral Point and a farmers market. Visit one of Mineral Point's museums, see lacemakers, spinners and storytellers, along with tours of homes reminiscent of a rural English village and food such as the Cornish pasty or the dessert figgyhobbin.
10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27; 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28; and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29. Various locations in Mineral Point, WI. (888) 764-6894 or go to cornishfest.org.
Merry Cranberry
The 41st annual Warrens Cranberry Festival, the world's largest festival dedicated to Wisconsin's official state fruit, expects more than 100,000 people to attend. The festival includes three miles of shopping, arts and crafts, flea markets, cranberry parade, berry-centric foods and educational marsh tours.
7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Sunday, Sept. 27-29. Downtown Warrens, Wis. Free admission. Marsh tours $6. (608) 378-4200 or cranfest.com.