Photos: TBOX 2015, In All Its Terrifying Glory
By Chicagoist_Guest in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 14, 2015 7:54PM
By: Rick Lobes
Thousands of people dressed in their holiday best—think, Santa hats, elf ears, pajama bottoms and lots of cereal boxes—lined the streets of Wrigleyville Saturday to take part in the annual neighborhood pub crawl known as TBOX. TBOX, a.k.a. The Twelve Bars Of Xmas, first began in 1996 with a small gathering, and has since blossomed into a phenomenon with attendance of 20,000 to 25,000 people.
It started out as just another pub crawl launched by Chris Festa, as a tour of 12 bars, based on the 12 Days of Christmas poem, with about 60 people. TBOX is now an all-day event, going from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with 47 participating bars.
This was the 20th Annual TBOX.
Charities benefit from the TBOX festivities as well. Over the past 10 years over $250,000 in cash, merchandise, and cereal (for some reason a staple of the TBOX festivities) has been donated to local and regional charities. On Dec. 10 a donation of $50,000 was made to the Lakeview Pantry Hunger Assistance Center using proceeds from this years event.
“We’re thrilled to be able to contribute to the community, and greatly appreciate all the support of our partying fans of TBOX in Chicago and around the country,” said Festa.
Money was also donated to The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, benefiting families of fallen officers, as well as the Chicago Gateway Green, and several Lakeview area neighborhood associations.
Rick Lobes is a freelance photographer living in Chicago.