One Long Table

Saturday, August 24, 2024 from 2-7 PM at Church of Atonement, 5749 N Kenmore Ave

This annual event started in 2013 when we gathered a group of volunteer neighbors to see how we could bring neighbors together by creating a community picnic in the middle of the street. If we had art, music, games, magic, and food, could we would gather everyone together at one table?

Starting in 2023, One Long Table is hosted in partnership with Church of Atonement – connecting more neighbors with food, fun, and comradery!

With a donation of 25 tables from the Broadway Armory and Edgewater Arts Festival we place them in the middle of the street. Weeks before, neighborhood kids, who wait all year for the event, put up signs to advertise the event and to inform drivers to move their cars. Once the cars are gone, we sweep the street, bring out the chairs and tables and place a long white paper roll across the 25 tables joining them together.

We cut flowers, place them in vases, gather food from local restaurants, we all bring food, and Otis gets the barbecue going which sends smoke signals to the adjoining streets. The artists and kids set up the booths for face painting, finger nail painting, and dream making.

The kids fill up the water balloons, bring out the napkins, silverware, soda, watermelon, and popsicles. We set up the game stations and once the bouncy house arrives, the kids with their parents arrive. The neighbor brings his accordion and we all start dancing, the poets recite poetry, the fire truck arrives and the kids can sit in the truck. The magician and his bunny arrive, and we end the day with the water balloon toss!

6018North is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of culture and the arts in Chicago. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. 6018North projects are partially supported by 3Arts, the AD3 Innovation Bootcamp Grant, an anonymous donor advised fund at The Chicago Community Foundation, a CityArts Innovation Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Gen Ops Plus Grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Field Foundation of Illinois, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, IL Humanities, the Illinois Arts Council Youth Employment Grant, the Joyce Foundation, The MacArthur Funds for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and individual donations.