CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE WHO GOT ALL 9 BEADS – THE RESULTS OF OUR PRIZE DRAWING ARE BELOW!!!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL PHOTO ALBUM!

All 9 Beads!!

• $25 Gift Card for STRETCH in Wrigleyville – Ryan Techau
• $25 Gift Certificate for BEER ON CLARK – Nicole Mirjanich
• Pair of Cubs Rooftop Tickets courtesy of Murphy’s Rooftop Company – James Hopson
• $25 Gift Certificate for CLARK STREET BEACH BAR – Fred Hill
• $25 Gift Certificate for ROCKWOOD PLACE – Cassie Herard
• $25 Gift Certificate for REBEL – Nicki Mashek
• $25 Gift Certtificate for ROCKWOOD PLACE – Janice Lam
• $25 Gift Certificate for BAR CELONA – My-Phuong Ly
• $25 Gift Certificate for REBEL – Tyler Hardin
• $25 Gift Certificate for DUGOUT – Gersi Hoxha
• One Night Stay at RED ROOF INN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO – Justin Clifton
• $50 Gift Certificate for IRISH OAK – Michelle Pote
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th – Jennie Lee
• $25 Gift Certificate for FULL SHILLING – Laura Clawson
• $30 Gift Certificate for O’MALLEY’S LIQUOR KITCHEN – Laura Bonefeld
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th – Georgia Lambrou
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th – Mary Munoz
• $50 Gift Certificate for ROADHOUSE 66 – Malika Manouzi
• $20 Gift Certificate for BIG G’S PIZZA – Mayra Sotomayor
• $20 Gift Certificate for BIG G’S PIZZA – Nicole Skerjan
• $25 Gift Certificate for BAR CELONA -John Derkach
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th – Natasia Mora
• $25 Gift Certificate to RAW BAR – Tara Jennerjohn
• $25 Gift Certtificate for ROCKWOOD PLACE -Amy Fisk
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th – Amanda Helms
• $25 Gift Certificate for DUGOUT – Emily Vallee
• $50 Gift Certificate to CHEESIE’S PUB & GRUB – Tricia Snell
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th – Joe Czerwien
• $20 Gift Certificate to BIG G’S PIZZA – Ariel Mangana
• $25 Gift Certificate to JOHN BARLEYCORN- Mary Meyer
• $25 Gift Card to MOE’S CANTINA – Shelby Bridges
• $20 Gift Certificate for BIG G’S PIZZA – John Rudell
• $25 Gift Certificate for FULL SHILLING – Cassandra Ramirez
• $25 Gift Certificate for FULL SHILLING – Heidi Owen
• $25 Gift Certificate for HOUNDSTOOTH SALON – Jonathan Thornton
• $25 Gift Certificate for YAK-ZIES – Tamika Eriksen
• $25 Gift Certificate for DUGOUT – Laura Giovanni
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th -Megan McKnight
• $25 Gift Certificate for REDMOND’S – Sarah Haynes
• $50 Gift Certificate for RED IVY – Caroline Corcos
• $25 Gift Certificate for REDMOND’S – Kara Widell
• $25 Gift Certificate for DARK HORSE – Sara Kania
• 2 Comp Tickets for Festa’s Next Event, COVER YOUR BASES on April 27th – Brian Murray
• $25 Gift Certificate for IRISH OAK – Lisset Diaz
• $25 Gift Certificate for DUGOUT – Stephanie Samuel
• $25 Gift Certificate for MURPHY’S BLEACHERS – Bill Stockdale
• $50 Gift Certificate for RED IVY – Nicole Timm
• $25 Gift Card to MOE’S CANTINA – Tamira Miranowski

Winner!

Winner!

We have posted over 600 awesome photos from BeadQuest 2013, plus our official Press Release on the event.

Photo Album #1  **  Photo Album #2  **  Photo Album #3

Click for Press Release

Festa Parties, a Chicago-based event planning company known for its festive pub crawl events including TBOX, The Twelve Bars of Xmas in Wrigleyville, has just completed hosting another successful and entertaining event. BeadQuest, Festa’s 5th Annual Bead-Collecting Mardi Gras Pub Crawl, took place on Saturday, February 16th, with over 3,200 revelers enjoying the flair of the “Fat Tuesday” tradition on the North Side of Chicago. Festa Parties has been planning and organizing great Chicago party events since its first TBOX back in 1996.

The BeadQuest participants celebrated the festive holiday by dressing to the nines in purple, green and gold, the colors of Mardi Gras. Colorful wigs and spectacular crowns were the order of the day among the pub crawlers, bringing the flash and dazzle of New Orleans to Chicago for one afternoon.  Despite the frigid temperatures, many of the bead collectors sported tutus, leggings, and other gala party apparel. And there was no shortage of sequins and sparkles either! Adding to the sartorial splendor, a renowned local face painter designed masterpieces upon facial canvases to give an added personal touch to those who wanted their costume to have a little something extra special.

Excitement, energy and enthusiasm filled the day as everyone visited the participating taverns and restaurants collecting the highly coveted numbered beads One through Nine. Participating local establishments included Murphy’s Bleachers, Dugout, Full Shilling, Trace, Yak-Zies, Bernie’s, Casey Moran’s, Vines on Clark, Sluggers, Mullen’s, Red Ivy, Bar Celona, John Barleycorn, Irish Oak, Red Ivy Sports Club, Moe’s Cantina, Merkle’s, Rockwood Place, Deuces & the Diamond Club, Stretch, Redmond’s, Rebel, Clark St. Beach Bar, Beer on Clark, Houndstooth Saloon, O’Malley’s Liquor Kitchen, Dark Horse, Nisei Lounge, Dugout, Sports Corner, Exedus II, Wrigleyville North, and Roadhouse 66, with DS Tequila and Roscoe’s on Halsted hosting a pre-event brunch fiesta. Bead-collecting hopefuls enjoyed beverages throughout the day from Festa Parties sponsors Miller Lite, Pinnacle Vodka, and Red Stag Flavored Bourbon.  “BeadQuest brought droves of people to the neighborhood during the slowest time of the year.  We were able to offer our staff extra shifts due to the influx of business.  The crawl does an amazing job of showcasing Wrigleyville to people who have never been to our neighborhood,” comment Rebel Bar owner Danny Latino, “The event was extremely well organized and the attendees were on their best behavior.  The extra security and temporary washrooms made things run very smooth.”

BeadQuest began at Murphy’s Bleachers at 1pm, and every hour, the Festa Parties Bead Distribution team zealously passed out one of the numbered disc beads to the frenzied crowd. In addition to the numbered beads, the Festa Parties team gave out over 40,000 other fun and fancy Mardi Gras style throw beads, while participants danced, mingled and reveled in the Bourbon Street atmosphere. First time Bead Distributor, Christy Roman commented, “BeadQuest was some of the most fun I have ever had! I met so many great people while handing out beads and the energy was insane. People, beads, dancing and fun, who could ask for more?”  It was also the first time for participant Melissa Orozco who expressed a similar sentiment, “BeadQuest was so much fun! I love that you get to see bars that you might miss when you hang out in Wrigley, and all the people you get to meet throughout the day. The handing out of the beads was my favorite part, especially when people had to dance off for them! I am definitely looking forward for BeadQuest 2014!”

The event concluded with a Karaoke party at Murphy’s Bleachers where triumphant partiers had the chance to belt out some of their favorite tunes. “Our customers might not be the next featured participants on American Idol,” said BeadQuest organizer Christopher Festa, “but we like to give everyone who comes to our events the chance to be a star and have their turn in the spotlight.”

Those who were successful in collecting all nine numbered beads were given 10 days to submit their photo with their badge and collected beads to Festa Parties to be entered into a contest for great prizes including Cubs rooftop tickets, hotel stays, and a multitude of gift certificates to participating establishments.

In addition to bringing these spectacular cultural events to Chicago, Christopher Festa, Owner and Founder of Festa Parties, enjoys contributing to worthy charitable causes in the Chicagoland community.  For the third year in a row, Festa Parties is sponsoring and participating in the CHICAGO Dance Marathon, and through BeadQuest, Festa found an additional way to help the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Volunteers set up a table at  O’Malley’s Liquor Kitchen, collecting donations for the famous limited-edition TBOX sunglasses donated by Festa Parties. In addition, participants missing a bead or wanting still more beads could make a small donation as well to contribute to the pot.  Along with the table, Casey Bloomer came up with the “Beads for Kids” Campaign, where he travelled to the participating BeadQuest establishments collecting donations in exchange for the plain beads.  “It was a simple idea and was wonderful to see that so many people were willing to chip in, even a dollar apiece to help the kids,” stated Bloomer, “What made it even better were the people that just wanted to donate like ‘Grandma Jan’ and wanted nothing in return.”  Thanks to these efforts, BeadQuest helped raise an additional $1,200 for the Dance Marathon benefit in addition to the over $40,000 Festa Parties has raised and donated to the cause over the past few years.

Festa Parties is looking forward to continuing producing the lively and popular events like TBOX, BeadQuest, and Cover Your Bases and contribute extensively to the local charities and community organizations. Festa’s upcoming events include its St. Patrick’s / Lucky Charms Edition Cereal Donation Party at Irish Oak on Thursday, March 7th, benefiting Lakeview Pantry, and the next pub crawl, Cover Your Bases 2013, the 5th Annual Baseball-Themed event on April 27th, 2013 in Wrigleyville.

If you got all 9 beads at BeadQuest 2013, send us your photo by Monday, 2/25, and we will post your photos for our Prize Drawing and Contest!

Tomorrow, we will have the complete list of all the prizes, and then details on how we will conduct the contest on Facebook, depending on how many entries we receive.

Call 773 478 3378 for questions!

Festa Office Hours Friday February 15 – We are Open Until 9pm at 4314 N Lincoln for BeadQuest Badge & T-Shirt Pickup!

We are open 10am-830pm Wed & Thur before BeadQuest at 4314 N Lincoln.

Today, Monday February 11, we are open at 4314 North Lincoln Avenue from 10am until 830pm tonight for BeadQuest Badge, Lanyard, and T-Shirt Pickup!

Buy Tickets Here!

Festa Parties, a Chicago-based event planning company known for its festive events including TBOX, The Twelve Bars of Xmas in Wrigleyville, will be holding its 5th annual BeadQuest, a Mardi Gras themed pub crawl taking place on Saturday, February 16th, 2013.  The 5th edition of this gala party and cultural event will once again bring a taste of the “Fat Tuesday” tradition to the north side of Chicago. Festa Parties has been planning and organizing great Chicago party events since its first TBOX way back in 1996.

BeadQuest originated in February of 2009 in collaboration with the iconic Wrigleyville establishment, Murphy’s Bleachers. Following the success of the 13th TBOX in 2008, Murphy’s owners approached Festa Parties with the idea of another event in the mid-winter timeframe to help fill the dreary void in the calendar after the Super Bowl ends and before the Chicago St. Patrick’s and March Madness festivities begin. And thus, the idea for a bead-collecting scavenger hunt type event was born, one in which participants would collect numbered beads at each of nine stops, while reveling in a Mardi Gras type atmosphere, even if there’s a foot of snow on the ground!  “BeadQuest has become a great new Chicago tradition and something that many, many of our fans enjoy as a great mid-winter break.  Back in the old days, we wouldn’t see people for another year until the next TBOX, but adding BeadQuest and our other events, Cover Your Bases, and Everyone Gets Lei’s, has really helped us make some great new friends and provide our customers with quarterly fun events to look forward to,” exclaims Christopher Festa, Owner and Founder of Festa Parties.  Dave Hause, the General Manager of Red Ivy was also enthusiastic about the event, “It’s been a pleasure to work with Festa Parties over the last 6 years during their great events including TBOX, BeadQuest, and Cover Your Bases! They bring in a lot of business during some of the slower times or when there wouldn’t normally be a lot of business.  They do a lot for the community and we are really looking forward to BeadQuest.”

Held in the Wrigleyville / Lakeview area, more than 33 restaurants and taverns will be participating in the event which will feature the distribution of over 40,000 beads, including the nine sets of numbered beads that the celebrators will seek to collect each hour.  Also, Festa Parties encourages everyone at their events to dress in festive holiday-themed gab. Observers can expect to witness a panoply of outrageous Purple, Gold, and Green outfits, headgear, and accoutrements throughout the day. The event concludes with a Karaoke party back at Murphy’s Bleachers where a photography station will be set up for those who successfully collect all nine beads to have their picture taken and enter a Facebook contest to win valuable prizes.  Prizes include Cubs rooftop tickets and gift certificates to the local establishments.

Miller Lite has sponsored Festa’s events since 2003, and will once again be a sponsor for BeadQuest.  Beam Global Products has also signed on to be a BeadQuest sponsor.  These events attract a very wide and diverse crowd, including suburbanites, and folks from across the country around the world!  BeadQuest attendees can receive a 15% discount on the rates at Red Roof Inn in Downtown Chicago, a historic 15-story high-rise in a prime location, one block east of Michigan Avenue, 6 blocks from Navy Pier, John Hancock Observatory, and the Red Line “L” subway.  

In line with its growing popularity and increased attendance at events, Festa Parties will be investing even more in safety, crowd control, and operations for BeadQuest 2013. Festa has contracted with established local firms Chicago Special Events Management and Safeguard Resoruces to assist with neighborhood cleanup and customer safety and comfort issues. Meetings with local police and city government have also been included in event preprations. Returning attendee Antoinette Romero stated, “BeadQuest was my first Festa Parties event. I have always found their process from beginning to end to be very efficient and organized. The staff has always been very informative with what I could expect from beginning to end. I enjoy the excitable festivities and creativity of their events all within a safe environment to spend time with old friends and also meet new friends.”  

In addition, in 2012, Festa Parties became a member of the Central Lakeview Merchants Association.  The CLMA is an organization whose primary goals are to “stimulate the neighborhood’s economic growth, enhance its natural beauty, and promote (the area) as a world-class tourist destination”, fitting strongly with Festa’s values. “In the past 5 years, over 20% of our event attendees have come from outside of Chicago, and many have told us that they’ve been frequent return customers to the Lakeview taverns, restaurants, and shops they discovered during our events,” added Christopher Festa.

Besides sponsoring and participating in the CHICAGO Dance Marathon, Christopher Festa, has found an additional way to help the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.  A table at O’Malley’s Liquor Kitchen will be run by volunteers collecting donations.  For those who donate $10, they will be awarded with a limited pair of TBOX glasses that were made and provided by Festa Parties.  In addition, a special “2nd Chance Table” will hold a small amount of each of the numbered beads that were handed out throughout the day.  With a donation to the CHICAGO Dance Marathon, BeadQuest attendees have the opportunity to get a numbered bead they may have missed earlier.

Festa Parties is looking forward to continuing producing the lively and popular events like TBOX, BeadQuest, and Cover Your Bases and contribute extensively to the local charities and community organizations.