Cermak Road Houby Festival

Illustration of a large mushroom with two smaller mushrooms below it.  Black text on an orange background.

Every autumn since 1968 the towns of Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois, have celebrated their Czech and Slovak heritages with the Houby Festival. Houby is the Bohemian word for mushroom, symbolizing the annual Czech and Slovak harvest and cultural dishes. Bohemians immigrated to the Chicago area in the 1900s, but their communities have dwindled in recent decades. The festival now brings together people from various backgrounds and surrounding communities. Festival events have included a pageant, carnival, parade, and live music. The parade has been toted as one of the largest in Chicago’s suburbs.