On May 16, 2013, Festa Parties revealed the Theme for TBOX 2013, the 18th Annual Twelve Bars of Xmas, The World’s Most Spectacular Pub Crawl…

AIR TBOX – The Majesty and Adventure of Flight and Air Travel come to TBOX!

See you all as we Depart at 08:00AM on 12/14/13! All the details soon!

Air TBOX !!!

The Festa Parties May 2013 “BYOC” Cereal Donation Party is taking place starting at 7pm at Roadhouse 66 in Wrigleyville, 3330 North Clark Street, on THURSDAY, 5/16.

Bring 5 or more boxes of Cereal to donate to Lakeview Pantry, and receive a Limited Edition TBOX2013 Preview Fashion T-Shirt you can wear all summer, as we unveil the Poster and Theme for TBOX 2013, Festa’s 18th Annual Twelve Bars of Xmas, The World’s Most Spectacular Pub Crawl, which will take place on Saturday, December 14, 2013, in Chicago.

We will also have our “Leaf Blower” Cereal Shot Contest, where you can win great prizes including valuable Gift Certificates from Wrigley Bars, and free tickets for our upcoming “Everyone Gets Lei’s” event on August 24. The Party at Roadhouse will also feature great drink specials from Miller Lite and Pinnacle Vodka!

 If you can, please RSVP Here on Facebook.

We have donated over 735 Boxes of Cereal to Lakeview Pantry in 2013!!  Click here for more info.

May 2013 Cereal Donation Party for Lakeview Pantry by Festa Parties

If you are looking for a great time for a great cause this Sunday,  May 5, Festa Parties is helping sponsor the Lakeview School Street Park fundraiser at Wrigley Field Rooftop Club, 3617 N Sheffield, for the 1:20pm Game. It’s an awesome deal – $100 All-Inclusive, $25 for Kids, and Kids Under 10 are FREE!!!  All proceeds go to the construction of the School Street Park (Details Here!)   For tickets, contact ERICA KELLY at 773-935-9555 or EMAIL HERE.

Festa Parties and TBOX / 12 Bars of Xmas Pub Crawl are Proud Sponsors and Donors to the Park, and Mr. Festa and the contest winners from the Cover Your Bases Pub Crawl will be there!  See below for details!

The April Edition of the “BYOC” – Bring Your Own Cereal Party – at Dugout Wrigley – was a great success, with 135 boxes of Cereal Collected and Donated by Festa Parties to Lakeview Pantry!

Festa Parties and friends had a blast at our latest BYOC Party, this time at Dugout Wrigley at 950 W Addison, where friends and customers of Festa picked up their Cover Your Bases Pub Crawl packets and stayed around for the inaugural Fruity Pebbles Flippy Cup Tourney – won by our favorite Royal Intern, Lindsay Glosniak of Naperville, Illinois!  Lindsay won a $50 Dugout Gift Certificate, and 2nd Prize Winner Josh Palka won a $25 Dugout Gift Certificate.

Festa Parties has now collected and donated over 700 boxes of Cereal to Lakeview Pantry since TBOX2012, and will be having Cereal Events throughout 2013 leading up to TBOX2013 on 12/14/13.

Why Cereal?  The Answer is Here!

And, want to join us at Cover Your Bases??  Click here for information on the Saturday 4/27/13 event, starting at 1pm at Deuce’s & Diamond…

Cereal Donated to Lakeview Pantry by Festa Parties / TBOX / Cover Your Bases Pub Crawl

Lindsay and Josh, with Chris Festa, The Winners of Cereal Donation Party from Festa Parties, Producers of TBOX

Thursday, April 18th, 7pm, at the Dugout Wrigley at 950 W. Addison, we present…

Our 3rd Bring Your Own Cereal (BYOC) Cereal Donation Party benefiting Lakeview Pantry, coupled with…

Cover Your Bases Badge & T-Shirt Pickup from 7pm-10pm….

Come and have a blast, get some free t-shirts, swag, and stickers, enter our Cereal Flippy Cup Contest, and pick up your CYB stuff!

RSVP HERE on FACEBOOK — or just show up!

The Wrigley Field Rooftop Club will be hosting a fundraiser on May 5th, 2013 during the Cubs game to support the construction of the new School Street Park in Lakeview. Built in 2008, the Wrigley Field Rooftop Club is the newest facility, as well as one of the largest, overlooking Wrigley Field. In collaboration with the Chicago Cubs, Alderman Tunney’s Office and the Chicago Park District founded the School Street Park Advisory Council (PAC) in August of 2012 to design, promote and support the funding of the new School Street Park.

Each of the members of the School Street PAC have played roles in working towards the goal of having the build-out to commence this Spring/Summer and the park to be open by the Fall/Winter of 2013. Alderman Tunney has worked to secure funding for the land, the Chicago Cubs have agreed to contribute to the construction of the park, and the Chicago Park District has agreed to manage the park once it is complete. “We can’t wait for the new park.  I’m very grateful to the Cubs, to Alderman Tunney, and to the PAC for the tireless hours they have put into this project.  It’s a testament to what one community can do when everyone comes together.  It’s going to be a fantastic addition to the neighborhood,” stated Lakeview Resident Trisha Rich.

Located just west of Racine Avenue on School Street in Lakeview, the new park promises to be a wonderful addition to the local community. Current resident Julia Garcia Wirth exclaims, “As a longtime Lakeview resident, I am really excited about the proposed park on School Street and am really looking forward to enjoying it with my two year old daughter. Our daughter likes to explore the neighborhood parks and I think this one would be a great addition to the community!”

After gathering additional feedback from the community, the School Street PAC is working to design a park that contains the following features:

- Play structures/areas for infants/toddlers, 3-5 year olds and 6-12 year olds.

- Shaded picnic and play areas.

- Water Features for all ages to enjoy.

- Open turfed green space for community beautification and future park programs and events.

- Decorative lighting, benches, public art and landscaping that will provide an urban escape.  

The School Street PAC has a fundraising goal of $200,000 to complete the build out and include the features the community desires. To date, they have raised just over $65,000. In order to help close the gap, they are offering the opportunity to donors to receive an inscribed brick in the park with their contributions. Since Friends of the Parks (FOTP) is a 501(c) (3) federally registered tax-exempt organization and the School Street Park is one of the FOTP Program projects, the full donation to The School Street Park is deductible as a charitable donation to Friends of the Parks, to the extent allowed by law.

In order to assist in raising more funds, the Wrigley Field Rooftop Club is donating two rooftops for the Cubs game on May 5th, 2013, offering all proceeds collected from the ticket sales to the School Street Park. Tickets are $100 for adults, $25 for children, and Kids Under 10 can attend free. The outing will include an afternoon of baseball, delicious food and drink, activities for the kids, and a chance to go home with some exciting sports items. VIP tickets are also available for $250, including priority seating, a 4×8” inscribed brick, and additional gifts.  The doors open at 12:50pm, and the game starts at 1:20pm.  To RSVP or for more information on the event, call Erica Kelly at 773-935-9555 or email schoolplaylot(@)gmail.com.

Also aiding in the fundraising is Christopher Festa, the Owner of Festa Parties and Producer of the noted Twelve Bars of Xmas TBOX Party in Lakeview. In November of 2012, Festa donated $5,000 to the construction of the park. Then, following the success of TBOX2012, he donated another $2,500 at Alderman Tunney’s fundraiser at Deuce’s & Diamond later in December. Since then, Festa has worked closely with the School Street Park Advisory Council to help with awareness-building for the park as well as marketing of the May 5th rooftop fundraiser.

Festa Parties has purchased four tickets to the rooftop event, which they will use as contest prizes for participants in their upcoming Baseball-Themed Pub Crawl Event, “Cover Your Bases 2013”, which will take place on Saturday, April 27. In its 5th year, this fun open house event involves more than 30 Wrigleyville taverns and restaurants, where participants receive a t-shirt with a stylized baseball diamond. The revelers then make their way through ten stops where they collect stickers to literally “cover the bases” on their shirts, and those who fill their tees completely can enter a contest to win great prizes, including the two pairs of tickets to the rooftop fundraiser. Other prizes for the event include gift certificates from participating bars such as Red Ivy, Moe’s Cantina, Redmond’s, John Barleycorn, Dugout, Trace, and Stretch.

The Cover Your Bases 2013 event will begin at 1pm at Deuce’s & the Diamond Club, make its way through the other stops, and conclude with a spectacular finale at O’Malley’s Liquor Kitchen, where event participants can walk a runway the final leg to an actual home plate on stage, and have their picture taken as they cross the plate and “Score”. Festa Parties also strongly encourages participants to get decked out in their favorite team’s baseball gear – jerseys, caps, eyeblack, leggings – everything to celebrate America’s pastime. “CYB” will also feature the singing of the National Anthem, a ceremonial First Pitch, singing of the 7th Inning Stretch, and much, much more. Event Organizer Christopher Festa commented, “Most of our customers love baseball, and love being part of a community centered around Wrigley Field and all its history and character. When we had the idea for this party in 2009, it just seemed a very natural fit for the neighborhood and the time of year, with spring in the air, and people ready to get out and enjoy all Chicago has to offer for the summer months. It’s also nice for us to be able to tie this in and contribute to a great cause within the Lakeview Neighborhood, the new park, which will be a special place for local families.” Tickets for the Cover Your Bases event are currently on sale at the Festa Parties Web Site.

Festa Parties also holds the annual BeadQuest Mardi Gras Celebration in Wrigleyville, and will hold its 18th Annual World-Famous TBOX event on December 14 of this year. In addition to its work with the School Street Park, Festa Parties has been a Silver Sponsor since 2010 and won Top Fundraising Team award for the CHICAGO Dance Marathon benefit, and contributes regularly to the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and began holding monthly Cereal Donation Parties benefiting Lakeview Pantry. For more information, visit www.festaparties.com.

About:

Festa Parties is a Chicago-based company founded by Christopher Festa that produces creative and popular nightlife and cultural events including TBOX, BeadQuest, and Cover Your Bases, which include popular Chicago establishments in neighborhoods such as Lakeview and Wicker Park. These include John Barleycorn, Moe’s Cantina, The Irish Oak, Red Ivy, Stretch, Fatpour, Rockwood Place, Fifty/50, Boundary, Sluggers, DS Tequila, Casey Moran’s, Full Shilling, Trace, Murphy’s Bleachers, Rebel, and many others. Festa Parties also contributes extensively to local charities and community organizations including CHICAGO Dance Marathon, School Street Park, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and Lakeview Pantry.

For further information, please visit: http://www.festaparties.com or call 773-478-3378

Festa Parties, a Chicago-based event planning company known for its festive pub crawl events including TBOX, The Twelve Bars of Xmas in Wrigleyville, hosted another lively event for friends, donating proceeds to Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. Festa Parties has been planning and organizing great Chicago party events since its first TBOX back in 1996.

Mercy Home for Boys & Girls began as St. Paul’s Home for Working Boys in 1887 above a Catholic library in downtown Chicago by Fr. Louis Campbell, a Chicago priest. In 1889, it moved just west of downtown, to what is still its current headquarters. With continued growth, Mercy Home opened a home for young women on Chicago’s South Side in 1987. That same year, Mercy Home’s Friends First mentoring program began matching trained adult volunteer mentors with children in need living throughout Chicago. In August 2003, Mercy Home opened the Rev. James J. Close residence hall for boys on its Hay Campus. This new facility, which increased their capacity by 40%, enabled Mercy Home to provide healing for more young people in need than ever before. In fact, “Its residential, aftercare, and mentoring programs provide a safe home, emotional healing, education, and life-changing opportunities for more than 600 young people every year,” according to Mark Schmeltzer, Director of Communications at Mercy Home.  

Schmeltzer continued to explain that, “young people come to Mercy Home in search of safe harbor from environments filled with abuse, neglect, abandonment, violence, poverty and other serious challenges. Mercy Home gives children like these stable, structured nurturing care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Its expert professional childcare staff provides life-changing therapeutic, academic and vocational support so that children may heal from the traumas of their pasts, prepare for their futures, and become self-reliant and successful adults. The impact of this work on our community is seen in the success of our kids after they go forward and contribute.” In addition, Mercy Home’s admissions counselors “make professional referrals to hundreds more troubled kids in crisis every year whose specific needs may be better met at qualified social service programs other than Mercy Home.”

Mercy Home operates under the mission of answering the Gospel call by ministering to children and families in need. They strive to save young lives by providing a safe, nurturing home, opportunity for an excellent education, and means for personal growth; support healing for families; be committed to raising public awareness of youth in need and encourages support to help them; be sustained by benefactors who believe in the miracle of God’s mercy in action.

The not-for-profit agency is 99.7% privately funded. Schmeltzer noted, “One of the unique aspects about how we help kids is in fact our funding structure. We raise nearly all of the resources we need to operate from private sources, like donations from individual men and women from across the country, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships and so on.”  Their special events and campaigns, like Shamrocks for Kids, play a major role annually in securing the financial support. Throughout the month of March, the annual Shamrocks for Kids Campaign features family-friendly, Irish-themed events and activities to raise funds and awareness, including participation in four Chicago area parades – Forest Park, South Side, Downtown and Northwest Side – and culminating with hundreds of guests at the post St. Patrick’s Day Parade Celebration at the Hilton Downtown.  Volunteers also distribute Mercy Home Shamrocks all over Chicago in exchange for donations that help young people living at Mercy Home. “What’s more, these events give us the opportunity to engage our core supporters in our mission, attract new friends who will help our kids in a variety of ways, and celebrate as a community—in short, to have a good time for a good cause.” Other major annual events include their black-tie gala, Ringside for Mercy’s Sake held in the fall, Leader Council Graduates’ Luncheon in May, and Have Mercy, their Junior Board’s gala.  Mercy Home also either hosts or participates in dozens of smaller events throughout the year.

In March of 2011, Mercy Home ran the “Show Us Your Shamrock Smile” Contest on Facebook, granting the winner and friends access to ride aboard the Mercy Home float St. Patrick’s Day Parade float. Being a lifetime fan of the holiday, Christopher Festa, Owner and Founder of Festa Parties, decided to enter the contest, and he won the grand prize. “I have always wanted to ride on a float in a parade,” stated Festa. “I was very thankful to Mercy Home for giving me the opportunity. The contest helped raise my own awareness of the great efforts put forth by the wonderful organization, and inspired me to continue to get the word out.”

Festa continues to show his appreciation to Mercy Home by donating and raising over $1200, as well as new and used clothing, to the cause. In keeping with the St. Patrick’s Day spirit, Festa rented a bus for the day to take friends around the city to partake in the celebrations. In lieu of requesting payment for the bus, Chris asked each of the attendees to make a donation to Mercy Home. In addition, the group handed out Mercy Home Shamrock Stickers to promote awareness to other members of the community, while handing out promotional cards for upcoming Festa Parties events. Lindsey Glosniak was aboard the float two years ago, as well as the recent bus excursion. Glosniak commented, “It was a great experience, and a privilege to help represent such a wonderful organization. So, when I was invited to be a part of his charity bus trip this year, I couldn’t help but jump at the chance! It’s a simple recipe for philanthropic success: Take a group of fun-loving individuals who love their city, and love to give back to the community. Throw in some Shamrocks, and it’s a win-win situation for all parties involved!” Schmeltzer added, “We are blessed that many good-hearted people every year decide to support the Home by organizing their own fundraising events, or donate the proceeds from existing events, like Festa Parties.”

Festa Parties continues to contribute to several other charitable organizations as well, including Lakeview Pantry, CHICAGO Dance Marathon, and School Street Playlot.  By frequently scheduling different events, Festa is finding new ways to promote the importance of giving to the community, and raising awareness and donations to worthy causes.

Festa Parties produces lively and popular events like TBOX, BeadQuest, and Cover Your Bases and contributes extensively to the local charities and community organizations. Festa’s upcoming events include its next pub crawl, Cover Your Bases 2013, the 5th Annual Baseball-Themed event on April 27th, 2013 in Wrigleyville.

Hello Party People – Cover Your Bases 2013 is coming up on Saturday, 4/27, and Badge & T-Shirt Pickup will begin on Thursday 4/18!

Pickup Party at DUGOUT WRIGLEY, 950 W. Addison

Thursday 4/18        > 7pm-10pm

Festa Office Pickup Hours at 4314 North Lincoln Avenue

Saturday 4/20          >  11am-5pm
Monday 4/22            >  10am-830pm
Tuesday 4/23            >  10am-830pm
Wednesday 4/24     >  10am-830pm
Thursday 4/25         >  10am-830pm
Friday 4/26               >  9am-9pm

Day-of-Event On-Site Customer Service Pickup at Deuce’s & Diamond, 3505 N. Clark

Saturday 4/27             > 1pm-9pm

We will have details on the 4/18 event soon, which will be another Cereal Donation Party benefiting Lakeview Pantry, with fun contests & prizes… and you can get your CYB stuff right off the Red Line and enjoy some food & drink!