The Illinois Sacred Harp Singers warmly invite you to the 41st annual Midwest Convention.

Please join us May 30th and 31st, 2026, at the Broadway Armory in Chicago. We’ll have two days full of singing from The Sacred Harp 2025 revision. Loaner books are available, no experience is required, and you can come and go for any part of either day.

Admission is free and open to all, regardless of musical knowledge or ability! We really would love to have you. We’re still ironing out all the details, but will keep this page updated as we go.

Schedule

Saturday & Sunday at the Broadway Armory
5917 N. Broadway
Registration opens
Singing begins
Morning session
Dinner on the grounds
Afternoon session
Singing concludes

Friday Singing School

Tom George of Georgia offers a singing school from The Sacred Harp. Afterwards, we will sing from The Shenandoah Harmony. Loaners provided.

May 29, 6–9pm.

At the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark St.

Saturday Social

A casual event in the evening following Saturday’s singing.

May 30, 6–9pm.

At the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark St.

Locations

carved stone entryway is warmly lit on a summer night
Photo: Ren Y. on Yelp

Broadway Armory

5917 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60660

Located in the north side neighborhood of Edgewater, the Broadway Armory is the Chicago Park District’s largest indoor facility. It was built in 1916 as an ice skating rink and has been a public recreation site since 1979.

The 41st Midwest Convention will take place in the second floor Ballroom, which is ADA-accessible and reachable by elevator.

Dinner on the grounds

“Dinner on the grounds” is the potluck lunch that sustains us in body and spirit for a full day of singing. Local singers, please bring a dish to share if you are able! There is a small kitchen in the Armory for heating dishes, but refrigeration may be limited.

We will have throat-soothing tea and energizing coffee on hand during our singing sessions as well.

Public Transit
  • By ‘L’ train: take the Red Line to Thorndale, on the same block as the Armory. All trains are ADA accessible, but the Thorndale station is not. The nearest accessible Red Line stations are at Granville (½ mile north) and Bryn Mawr (½ mile south).
  • By bus: the #36 Broadway bus will drop you off right in front of the Armory, at Broadway & Thorndale. The #151 Sheridan and #147 DLSD Express stop ¼ mile away, at Sheridan & Thorndale.
  • By Metra train: the Peterson/Ridge station, on the UP-N line, is 1 mile away from the Armory.
  • By bike share: bicycles can be rented and returned at the Divvy station immediately outside the Armory.
  • Information about fares and schedules is available at the CTA website.
Parking

If public transit or taxi/rideshare is not an option, there are parking options available. Carpooling is encouraged.

  • There is metered street parking on all streets surrounding the Armory. It is $2.50 an hour and is payable at kiosks or on the ParkChicago website or app. There is a 2 or 3 hour limit, but time can be extended on the website/app. The meter is free on Sunday.
  • Directly adjacent to the Armory, on the north side of the building, there is a parking lot run by the Park District. There are about 25 spots and 2 dedicated handicapped parking spaces. It costs $15.25 to park all day (up to 9 hours).
  • On Sunday, the bank across the street has agreed to let us park in their lot for free.
  • A little farther afoot, there are free parking spots to be found in the neighborhood west of Broadway. Streets like Norwood and Glenlake are usually pretty good bets. Additionally, there are spots avalible behind the LA Fitness and Walgreens, 6100 block of Broadway, directly adjacent to the Red Line tracks.
a handsome brick and stone building, three storeys tall, with decorations in the windows

Swedish American Museum

5211 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640

Our Friday singing school and Saturday social will be generously hosted by the Swedish American Museum. Founded in 1976, the museum focuses on Swedish culture and immigration. And it is surrounded by a range of restaurants and shops in the historically Swedish neighborhood of Andersonville. The building is wheelchair accessible.

Public Transit
  • By ‘L’ train: take the Red Line to Berwyn, and walk or catch the #92 Foster bus ½ mile west to Clark.
  • By bus: from the Armory, the #36 Broadway bus stops at Broadway & Foster, a ½ mile walk from the Museum. The #9 Ashland and #22 Clark stop at Foster, one block from the Museum. The #92 Foster stops at Clark, on the same block.
  • By bike share: bicycles can be rented and returned at the Divvy station at Clark & Berwyn, one block north of the Museum.
  • Information about fares and schedules is available at the CTA website.
Parking

If public transit or taxi/rideshare is not an option, there are parking options available. Carpooling is encouraged.

  • There is a dedicated loading zone in front of the museum for drop-offs.
  • The Swedish American Museum owns the parking lot on the corner of Ashland and Foster (5201 N. Ashland Ave.). They have generously offered to let us use it for free on the nights of the singing school and social. There is one dedicated handicapped spot.
  • There are limited metered spaces around the Museum, with pretty strict enforcement. Payable at kiosk or the ParkChicago website/app.
  • There are free spots on Ashland Avenue and Foster Avenue and on the neighborhood streets west of Ashland, streets like Farragut and Summerdale.

Contact

We would love to connect with you on our Facebook event and email list for real-time updates.

Coming in from out of town? Email Rochelle to be connected with local singers who can host you.

For other questions, you can reach us through the form below.

Eager for shape notes in Chicago the rest of the year? We sing most weeks every month!