April 11
The first jam
People met at the eagle statue near the Logan Square Blue Line. It was the whole plan: bring props, meet on Tuesday, see what happened.
The short history
A weekly habit since 2017.
The jam started with one Tuesday near the Logan Square Blue Line, moved to Palmer Square the next week, and kept going because people kept bringing props.
Two Tuesdays in 2017
The move that stuck
April 18
Palmer Square
The gathering moved a few blocks west to the park. The totem pole became the landmark, and the jam has returned there every season since.
What keeps it alive
Attendance is the infrastructure.
There is no ticket booth and no audience line. The jam exists when somebody brings a hoop, somebody else brings clubs, and the next person decides to stop on the grass.
That loose ownership is the durable part. Beginners become regulars. Regulars teach one move. People bring snacks, blankets, spare props, and eventually friends.
Read the 2023 Sun-Times feature
Required theology
TacoCat reads the same both ways.
That palindrome is enough to qualify a cat in a taco as the jam's presiding deity. TacoCat asks for no doctrine beyond showing up and leaving the park better than you found it.
