Shortly after I started out on my walking tour of downtown Chicago on a Sunday morning, I came across this scene of the bride and groom, as well as their wedding party, trying for a few good pictures on the north side of the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River. They seemed to be having a good time and the relatively light traffic was cooperating as best it could!
A bit earlier on the walk, two street muscians (2nd photo) were really banging out some nice tunes in the Ontario Street area, not far from my hotel. I remember thinking that although their music was enjoyable, it seemed to be quite loud. In doing some research for this tip I find that the city placed some restrictions on these artists as outlined below:
[Street performers here such as bucket drummers, saxophonists, bagpipers and singers are being ordered to pipe down, making Chicago the latest city to try to reduce urban noise. The City Council adopted the restrictions Wednesday to ban all performances on a busy four-block stretch of Michigan Avenue known as the Magnificent Mile. The regulations also lower acceptable decibel levels everywhere else in the city and require entertainers exceeding 55 decibels — the level of loud talking — to pack up by 8 p.m. on weeknights. Permit fees will increase from $50 to $75. The crackdown was prompted by complaints from businesses and residents such as Susan Mardell, who lives on the 29th floor of a Michigan Avenue building. She says outdoor music, especially from groups whacking on plastic buckets, "echoes up through your apartment through closed windows and closed doors. ... It's a repetitious, jarring kind of noise."] Actually, I don't think I saw another band after that one but late-April may be a bit too early in the season for them.
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on May 6, 2008
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