1. Chicago Green Festival

The Buzz -- The Chicago Green Festival features some 350 local and national green businesses which exhibit and sell eco-friendly, fair trade and sustainable goods and services. There’s a children’s zone, workshops, yoga classes, live music and organic beer, wine and food. But the speakers draw standing-room-only crowds; the roster of guest speakers has included authors such as Frances Moore Lappé, Paul Stamets, Bill McKibben and David Korten, plus a plethora of local and regional government officials and community leaders.