Chicago’s Throwing A Giant ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ Festival For The Movie’s 30th Anniversary
Save the date. Save Ferris.
It’s well established among the scientific community that Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the greatest movie of the 20th Century, and that anyone who disagrees with that assessment is a numpty. It’s a love letter in movie form: to the entwined optimism and terror of near-adulthood, the transience of youth, and the dream of unbridled irresponsibility so few of us get to realise.
It’s also a love letter to director John Hughes’ childhood home, Chicago. Some of the city’s most recognisable icons — Wrigley Field, Willis Tower, the Art Institute of Chicago — are given supporting roles. Even nondescript locations, like Ferris’ high school or the parking garage where Cameron’s Ferrari gets taken for a joyride, can be visited on adorably daggy location tours around the city.
All of which helps explain the upcoming and extremely cute Ferris Fest, a weekend-long celebration of Ferris Bueller’s contributions to the city of Chicago to mark the movie’s 30th anniversary. Besides a screening of the film at the John and Nancy Hughes Theater with stars of the movie, a tour of every last filming location and an actual recreation of Ferris’ bedroom, the organisers are planning to recreate the movie’s best moment: the parade scene.
The festival’s not on until May, which means there’s plenty of time to arrange a cross-Pacific trip to Chicago. Save Ferris.
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