After a year and a half of disruption from water-pipe repairs, Armitage Avenue between California Avenue and Humboldt Boulevard will go car-free this weekend for the inaugural Armitage County Fair. The two-day event brings a county-fair sensibility to Logan Square, with Chicago-themed attractions including a giardiniera-eating competition and a JB Pritzker lookalike contest for babies. It runs noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.
The Logan Square Chamber of Commerce approved the fair in May 2026, and organizers assembled it in about three months, according to Block Club Chicago. The event is also a fundraiser for the chamber. Organizer Pete Ternes, the chamber’s treasurer and the idea’s originator, hopes attendees will contribute $10 to support this year’s fair and future editions.
The fair builds on Ternes’ experience organizing a smaller annual block party on Mozart Street, which he has run since 2019. The water-pipe project kept half of Armitage closed at a time and eliminated street parking along the corridor; organizers wanted the fair to spotlight the avenue and bring businesses together after the disruption, according to the same report.
Street closures and Logan Square festival history
The City of Chicago lists a Street Closure Application among its Special Events Permit Application resources. That general guidance does not establish the Armitage County Fair’s permit status.
The fair is not Logan Square’s only documented festival: the Logan Square Arts Festival says it has attracted guests since 2009 and raised money for local nonprofits. The Arts Festival describes a recurring event and nonprofit fundraising, while the inaugural Armitage fair is raising money for the chamber.
Sixteen Bands, Two Headliners and a Pitchfork Connection
Music sits at the center of the fair, with two stages hosting 16 bands meant to represent the breadth of Chicago's music scene. Musicians Sima Cunningham and Mike Reed helped curate the lineup — Reed also co-founded the Pitchfork Music Festival, giving the young fair some serious curatorial pedigree. Fourteen of the 16 bands booked are local acts.
La Luz headlines Saturday, with the Sun Ra Arkestra topping the bill Sunday. Rounding out the lineup are Hazel City, Al Scorch, the Sidepieces and Cabeza de Chivo. Maggie Winters will host the fair's contests both days, keeping the giardiniera-eating competition, talent show, best-dog-dressed-as-a-farm-animal contest, baby Pritzker lookalike round and a pie-eating contest for kids age 3 and under moving along on schedule.
Food, Drink and a Petting Zoo
Beyond the stages, the fair spreads out with roughly 30 craft vendors alongside food and drink offerings and a petting zoo. Organizers named eight nearby restaurants, along with Le Bouchon, The Fish Guy and Pretty Cool Ice Cream, as participating food businesses. Drink options include limited-edition tappings from Middle Brow beers and wines not yet released to the public. Marz Community Brewing Co. is supplying THC drinks, while Apologue is providing a specialty cocktail cooler for the weekend.
A Self-Care Tent With Therapists on Hand
Tucked into the fairgrounds is a free-services self-care tent called Take Care, helped along by organizer Cameron Lacy, who owns Intuit Healing. The tent offers free yoga, Pilates, massage therapy, sound baths, facials and pottery classes throughout the weekend. It also includes an ask-your-therapist panel featuring four therapists who specialize in couples and sex therapy, OCD and EMDR.
Ternes said he sees the fair as a way to bring people together: “There's nothing more important, especially in this age of social media and robots, than for people to come together,” he said, according to Block Club Chicago's report. More details on the lineup, vendors and schedule are available on the fair's website, armitagecountyfair.com.
