Various venues

Can't get enough of marionettes? You'll love the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, which brings puppeteers from across the globe to the city for 12 days of symposiums and more than 120 performances and events. The Puppet Hub returns this year, which includes events on the fourth floor of the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue—take a look around to find everything from a puppet-themed cafe to film screenings in the building’s massive Studebaker Theater. Also back is the Ellen Van Volkenburg Symposium, workshops with visiting puppet artists, the Catapult Artist Intensive and more. For a full list of performances, visit the festival’s website.

Open wide! Chicago Restaurant Week is back for its 18th year. More than 470 Chicagoland eateries will offer specially curated prix fixe menus for brunch ($25), lunch ($25) or dinner ($45/$60) between January 24 and February are 9. With more than two weeks to chow down, there's plenty of time to make a few reservations and check out some of the best restaurants in Chicago while saving some coin.

Get your fill of cheesy noodles at this Mac & Cheese Crawl happening in Wrigleyville. The event will feature stops at some of the neighborhood's most popular bars, and tickets include seven mac and cheese tastings and access to drink specials and giveaways.