Join me and naturalist Negin Almassi for Hear Here: Singing Insects Soundwalk on Saturday, July 11, 2026, 8:00–9:30 PM, at Columbus Park. We’ll gather on the south side of the Columbus Park Nature Area, on S. Golf Drive, near the Columbus Park Refectory at 5701 W. Jackson Blvd.
This is a free, outdoor listening experience built around the songs of singing insects — grasshoppers, cicadas, katydids, and crickets. Negin brings deep knowledge of insect-song identification and community science; I’ll lead “Ear Cleaning” and other listening exercises that open our attention to the acoustic life of the park at dusk.
These small, often overlooked insects are part of Chicago’s summer soundscape, yet most of us move through the city without ever learning to hear them. A soundwalk makes that world audible — and reminds us that a park is not only a place to look at, but a living soundscape to listen to.
Event details
Hear Here: Singing Insects Soundwalk with Eric Leonardson and Negin Almassi
Saturday, July 11, 2026 · 8:00–9:30 PM
Columbus Park Nature Area / Columbus Park Refectory
5701 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60644
Meeting point: south side of the Columbus Park Nature Area, on S. Golf Drive
Rain date: Sunday, July 12, 2026 · 8:00–9:30 PM
RSVP through the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology event page.