Chicagoans may not know it, but Ferragosto, a cherished holiday rarely observed outside of Italy, has a sort of kinship with this city. Sure, Italians are woven into the fabric of Chicago, as our architecture, infrastructure, and economy were all built in no small part by Italian immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. But even now, Chicago is known as a working town; a city for the people. She’s far from perfect, but she gets pretty damn close in summertime.

Ferragosto is one of Italy’s oldest holidays, celebrated each year on August 15. Its origins date to 18 BCE, when the Roman Emperor Augustus established the Feriae Augusti (“Festivals of Augustus”) to mark the end of the harvest season. After months of demanding work, farmers, laborers, and even their animals were given a well-earned day of rest.

While dishes and traditions may have changed over the centuries, at its core, Ferragosto still celebrates labor and its fruits by bringing communities together. Meals feature whatever is ripe and ready at long lunches, picnics, and barbecues — anywhere, as long as it’s outside. The dress code and menu are come-as-you-are and bring-whatever-you’ve-got: eating spaghetti in your bathing suit; cracking open a watermelon into craggy sections; grilling fish on a makeshift rack set across some rocks. There are plastic chairs and loud tablecloths; wine in solo cups and meat on sticks. The vibes, unsurprisingly, are immaculate.

It makes sense, then, to celebrate a Midwestern sort of Ferragosto in a city founded on principles of community and shared progress, in a region of fertile farmland, during a season of abundance.

We hope you can join us, on Saturday, August 15th at LOULOU by Lula.

Tickets are $195, inclusive of tax and gratuity and available here.