Festival produces full productions of Shakespeare and other plays, as well as family-oriented 45-minute versions, from June-August. Plays Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, and Failure: A Love Story. Theatre for Young Audiences production is The Magical Mind of Billy Shakespeare, in a free, 45-minute version performed Wednesday and Saturday. The Festival will present a staged reading of The Reign of Kind Edward III in April and the Improvised Shakespeare Company in June. Visit the website for schedule and tickets.

The festival moves from opening night with JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound (JCBUS) at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park to the Chicago Cultural Center for lunchtime concerts on Friday, and then heads south to Bronzeville for a weekend of free Gospel Music on two stages in Ellis Park. Activities throughout the weekend include the McDonald's Kids Activity Zone with strolling entertainment, arts and crafts, inflatable bouncy house and visits from McDonald's characters.

Features interactive activities, arts and crafts and games for kids. Plus, every day includes Wiggleworms at 10 a.m., when instructors from the Old Town School of Folk Music lead young children in a fun-filled sing-along and a reading circle at 11 a.m.

Audiences have the opportunity to attend performances that blur the boundaries between theater, music and dance. Programming includes: live music, theater, dance, puppetry, a community picnic and performances for children.

New exhibit showcases 50 rare and unique objects from the Sterling Morton Library's collections. The artifacts include a collection of butterflies that is more than 100 years old, an Eskimo bone carving, original woodblocks, and metal sculptures. Explore a modern cabinet of curiosities, with drawers that pull out and doors that open to reveal objects and interactive games, share your vision of a library in 50 years, and take part in a library-wide scavenger hunt.

Kids become bug detectives as they explore the exhibit of huge bug sculptures built using natural materials including trees, dried branches, roots and green saplings. On display will be an over-sized bee hive, lady bug, assassin bug, damsel fly, spider, daddy long legs, praying mantis, dragon fly, grasshopper and three ants. Kids receive a free bug detective guide, helping them uncover the truth about bugs. Plus, they can take part in daily events to learn more about bugs, plus an edible insects program for the whole family.

Find out some fascinating facts about ants and make an a-maze-ing ant craft to take home.

Test your skills in a bug-tastic board game and make a lovely ladybug mask to take home.

Enter a tree house village filled with adventure and imagination. Play, make believe, and become part of the trees' ever-changing tale. The exhibition is comprised of six fun-filled, educational tree houses, aimed at kids 2-10.

The Model Railroad Garden delights visitors of all ages with the sights and sounds of garden-scale trains traversing bridges and trestles, past miniature scenes of America's best-loved landmarks and beautiful gardens planted to scale.