WPF Arts & Culture

WPF 2025 Cultural Stage

Wicker Park Fest's Center Stage takes time each day to highlight some of the unique cultures found in our community through engaging & entertaining performances.

A suggested $10 donation at the entrance helps compensate bands and festival staff, while also supporting local nonprofits, businesses, and community programs. #SOSF

Ballet Folklorico Xochitl

Bollywood Groove

Collective Dance Fitness

COMMIT Dance Fitness

DivaDance 606 Chicago

Music House School of Performing Arts

Rhythmhood

The Arts

Wicker Park Fest is proud to be one of the only street festivals in Chicago, and it has a dedicated Arts Area to showcase unique artworks commissioned for enjoyment at the festival!

Analog Arcade: Powered by People
By Aaron Moring-D’Angier for T2D2 Toys

In an uncertain economy where jobs are being lost to AI, there is an artful resistance that comes with celebrating the low- and no-tech. We are seeing the comeback of oral exams in education, people carrying flip phones, and the aggressive pushback that celebrates art and film created without generative technology.

T2D2 Toys, an arts non-profit based in the Flatiron Arts Building, will create a low-tech arcade with a collection of game cabinets that are powered by players, requiring at least two people to play, in order to foster community and collaboration.

Part of the mission of T2D2 Toys is to promote play and divert materials from landfills. We can fulfill both of those goals by crafting these arcade games from theater set castoffs and rescued art supplies in the creation of an interactive art piece that invites the visitors of Wicker Park Fest to be a part of the action.

When your group walks up, you’ll see a game cabinet contraption and meet a staff member who will walk you through how to make the machine operate and how to play the game. You might turn a crank while your friend is maneuvering controls and then you’ll switch off so everyone has a turn. If it’s in the evening, your friends will also be pedaling to keep the lights going. Everyone is having fun, engaging their minds and bodies, and working together to create an experience.

The Cat Museum
By Robin Mordini

The Cat Camp! collective presents the Interactive Cat Museum, a 15’ x 15’ immersive installation. Housed in a monumental dome shaped like a calico cat head, the project functions as both a curated gallery and a community makerspace.

Within, you can DIY Cat Ears to take home for no cost in the spirit of the art forward fest and laugh and enjoy the witty cat museum pieces on display.

Visitors can look forward to experiencing:

A display of "historical" feline artifacts, such as bronze cat toys from 286 B.C., accompanied by humorous, scholarly narratives.
The use of pedestal displays, red velvet stanchions, and possible museum staff to elevate the attendee experience.
A complimentary, hands-on activity where visitors craft minimalist headbands from zip-ties.