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Navy Pier Is Throwing Itself A 100th Birthday Party With Free Cheesecake

By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 13, 2016 8:18PM

NavyPierFireworks.jpg
Photo via Q Win on Flickr

Navy Pier turns 100 years old this year, and there's literally no way to forget it. The pier is celebrating not only with a new Ferris wheel (called the Centennial Wheel, so no one forgets what this is about) and a giant remodel (titled the Centennial Vision, for similar reasons)—it's also throwing itself a birthday party on Friday.

The party, an extremely structured event that starts at 10 a.m., will feature free cheesecake—a 1,000-pound Eli's cheesecake, to be exact, cut during the 10:30 a.m. "[p]ier-wide singing of Happy Birthday." There will also be a free performance of Twelfth Night from Chicago's Shakespeare Theater at 6:30 p.m., and the party will close out with 9:30 p.m. with "special" fireworks on the pier.

Young guests can also play musical chairs and "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" during morning festivities—except it's been reimagined by marketers into "Pin the Gondola on the Centennial Wheel." So. That's what you have to pin now. Sorry, children.

For more information, see the Facebook event or the Navy Pier website.