Best things to do in Chicago Labor Day weekend

Justin's picks

🎷 When I was a wet-behind-the-ears producer at WBEZ, one of my awesome responsibilities was directing live broadcasts of the Chicago Jazz Festival. Those memories will stay with me forever — and are one reason I always make time for one of the city's best music festivals. This year's headliners include M.E.B. (Miles Electric Band), celebrating the Miles Davis Centennial and Paquito D'Rivera. | Free | Millennium Park | Thursday-Sunday, starting at 11am

🤣 I'm always on the hunt for a good improv show, and this Sunday should deliver. It's the 30th anniversary of Deep Schwa, one of Chicago's best long-form improv groups. They performed at iO throughout the 1990s, and several familiar faces from the city's comedy scene will be back for the reunion. | iO | Sunday, 8pm

🎞️ Film noir on the big screen is always a treat, but give me a whole festival of it! Music Box's NOIR CITY returns with 19 crime flicks centered around music, including a Friday night double feature of "Sweet Smell of Success" and the Chicago-set "The Man with the Golden Arm." | Music Box Theatre | Friday, 7pm (runs through Sept. 10)

🎭 How's this for a wild true story? In 2012, Andrew Breitbart's final blog post targeted a small Chicago theater production that had once featured Barack Obama on a post-show panel. Now, veteran theater artist and producer Pam Dickler tells the bizarre story in her funny one-woman show, "I Killed Andy Breitbart." | $20-$30 | Apollo Theater Studio | Sept. 5-27; Saturdays, 8pm, Sundays 3pm

Carrie's picks

💄 Our storefront theater scene ranks among the best. Hell in a Handbag Productions' "Joan Crawford Goes to Hell" sounds like a deliciously inventive spin on one of Hollywood's great villains. And the production includes three Joans! | $34+ | The Clutch | Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows through Sept. 27

🧘 I'm a longtime yogi, and over the past couple of years, I've gotten into sound bath yoga. It's incredibly relaxing and transporting. As the hot weather starts to cool, a sound bath in the park sounds like a fitting way to welcome a new season. | $25 | Chicago Women's Park and Gardens | Saturday, 10:30-11:30am

📽️ My heart still aches for Dolly, and while there's plenty of sap in "Steel Magnolias," Dolly, Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis are all just perfect in the rewatchable movie. Even better — 10% of ticket sales will benefit Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. | $24+ | Rooftop Cinema Club in Fulton Market | Monday, 7:15pm

Monica's picks

🥟 While our current tropical weather doesn't exactly scream "pierogi time," when things cool off this weekend, we're all gonna want to eat and dance at Taste of Polonia in Jefferson Park.

• Enjoy folk dancing, crafts, a kids' zone, polka and lots of delicious kielbasa, pierogi and cabbage rolls. | $10-15 | Friday-Sunday | Copernicus Center

🇲🇽 After last year's Mexican Independence Parade and Celebration in Pilsen suffered low turnout in the face of threats to Chicago from the White House and the impending start of Operation Midway Blitz, I'm hoping that this year (while still fraught) sees bigger crowds for the parade's 25th year. | Saturday, noon | Harrison Park and 18th Street

👨🏽‍🌾 With the late summer harvest in full swing, Saturday volunteer days at the 2-acre Chicago Farm Lab in Belmont Cragin offer a great way to get outside, learn gardening and engage with community.

• Started by Prosser biology teacher Marnie Ware, the garden offers student service credits or just satisfying work in a green corner of the city, as illustrated in this Block Club video. | Saturdays, 10am-3pm, through October | 2148 N. Long Ave.