Cost: varies

Organizer: City of Chicago

What to expect: It's a series of events celebrating Chicago architecture, with more than 100 free tours.

Why to go: In honor of the 100th year of the Daniel H. Burnham Plan, the fest will offer six tours highlighting his work, including Gateway to India in Chicago (Devon Avenue), Chicago's Gateway to the World (Northwest Side), Discover Pilsen, From Civil War to Civil Rights and Beyond, From Pollution to Solution: 'LEEDing the way in the Midwest' (Southeast Chicago) and Rebuilding a Classic Chicago Community (Auburn-Gresham). See the website for a full list of tours.

Additional info: Participants can sign up the 'day of' for most tours, though select tours will be available online for $3 each (noon April 21 to 5 p.m. May 1). Day-of registration begins at 7:30 a.m. at the ArchiCenter, 224 S. Michigan. The last tour leaves at 3 p.m.

In addition to tours, there will also be an afternoon writers' reading and lecture series, Conversations Within Communities, at the Chicago Cultural Center's Garland Room. The schedule for these events is as follows (all are at 12:15 p.m.):

April 24: Cathy J. Maloney (author of Chicago Gardens: The Early History)
May 1: Will Dunne (author of The Dramatic Writer's Companion: Tools to Develop Characters, Cause Scenes, and Build Stories
May 8: Ann Durkin Keating (editor of Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide) May 15: Joel Greenberg (editor of Prairie, Woods and Water: Two Centuries of Chicago Nature Writing)

Centerstage Reviewer: Ben Rubenstein