Chicago Sukkah Design Festival: Belonging, Solidarity, and Shared Futures

The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival brings together neighbors, community organizations, designers, artists, students, and faith leaders to co-create sukkahs—structures inspired by Jewish tradition—reimagined as spaces of belonging, solidarity, and hope.

Held in North Lawndale, the festival is rooted in the neighborhood’s shared Black and Jewish history, a legacy intertwined with the civil rights movement and the struggle for justice led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Chicago Freedom Movement. Today, the festival breathes new life into this history by creating “beloved community” through collective making.

From Co-Creation to Collective Liberation

The sukkahs built for the festival are not only shelters but third spaces: pop-up theaters, bicycle kiosks, healing stations, DJ booths, and more. Each structure becomes a living monument to resilience and a platform for dialogue, transforming temporary acts of gathering into lasting bonds of solidarity, creativity, and care.

2025 Program

This year’s Opening Celebration invites visitors to experience five new sukkah installations and learn more about the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot. The event is family-friendly and offers food, art-making, dance, and live music.

📅 Date: Opening Day of the Festival

📍 Location: North Lawndale, Chicago

Schedule:

• 1:00 – 5:00 pm: Make-your-own lulav workshop — discover the cultural rituals of these harvest bouquets and take one home.

• 2:00 – 3:00 pm: To be announced.

• 3:30 – 4:00 pm: To be announced.

• 4:00 – 5:00 pm: Performance by Chicago Klezmer Ensemble and communal dancing, featuring renowned clarinetist Kurt Bjorling.

Through these activities, the festival cultivates a practice of collective liberation, inviting people of all backgrounds to gather, connect, and dream side by side.