Chicago based companies Festa Parties and Poggled partnered to bring Cover Your Bases to Wrigleyville in Spring 2011

For Cover Your Bases III — Festa Parties’ Sticker-Collecting, Baseball-Themed Bar Crawl — tickets are being sold exclusively through Poggled.com. Poggled is a Chicago based internet company that features cocktail and beer drink deal discounts at various establishments around the city. Since its launch in the spring of 2009, Poggled has grown in popularity among the 20-something crowd looking for fun and inexpensive after-dark activities. Poggled decided to partner with Festa Parties to widen its exposure to Festa’s Chicago-Centric mailing list, and also to help Festa publicize its own events and utilize its streamlined order processing system. Festa partnered with Poggled for BeadQuest III in February, 2011, and again for Cover Your Bases III.

In conjunction with its TBOX event, and its participation and sponsorship of the Chicago Dance Marathon, Festa Parties has also designed and donated two of its world-famous “PICTURE FRAMES” – custom made for the Chicago Dance Marathon 2011! These frames consist of custom-produced, professionally-printed corkboard “frames” with the middle cut out, making for fun and frivolous photo opportunities similar to those provided for TBOX participants. According to CDM Volunteer Katie Kormann, “These frames will be a super-fun addition to the event for the families, children, volunteers, and dancers, and really jazz up the thousands of pictures sure to be taken during the event!”

For more information on Chicago Dance Marathon benefiting Childrens Memorial Hospital, click here!

Christopher Festa, Owner of Festa Parties, was thrilled to win a contest on Facebook to get a float for 15 of his friends in the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, courtesy of Mercy Home for Boys and Girls of Chicago!  Submitting a silly picture of himself in his crazy green jacket and hat, Chris won the most votes leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, and enjoyed the thrill of distributing 50 boxes of Lucky Charms and 400 lbs of candy donated by Farley’s & Sathers Candy Company to the wild, enthusiastic crowd. It was the thrill of a lifetime, and he and his friends go to say, I’M ON A FLOAT!

Chris Festa and Friends on Mercy Home Float for Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade, 2011

Festa Parties has made a donation of over 50 Children’s Onesie and Infant T-shirts from its sister company, Great To Be Here Tees, to the St. Martin de Porres “House of Hope” Shelter in Chicago. St. Martin de Porres, located on the South Side of Chicago, runs a social ministry addressing the economic, educational, and addiction difficulties faced by the homeless women, children, and pregnant teens of Chicago.

Thanks to the generosity of our Sponsors including Miller Lite and Murphy’s Rooftop Company, we wanted to announce the winners of our raffle entries for BeadQuest III…  Congratulations, Guys!!!

Gift Certificate Winners

Christine Neuberg – $10 to Pauly’s Pizzaria
Amy Irvin -  $25 to The Curse
Alexx Miles – $25 to Red Ivy
Jessica Ebersberger – $25 to Red Ivy
Carrie Macchia – $25 to Moe’s Cantina
Tracey Kiefer – $25 to John Barleycorn
Lauren Porto – $25 to Slugger’s
Travis Tansel – $25 to Slugger’s
Victor Udeshi – $50 to Bernie’s
Katie Kormann – $50 to Murphy’s Bleachers
Maggie Mitchell – $50 to The Full Shilling
Blerta Mandro – $50 to Sports Corner/Cubby Bear/Vines
Brian Davis – $50 to Casey Moran’s
Matt Ford – $50 to Pajama City
Mike Russ – 2 Tickets to James Blunt at Riviera
Caity Isham – 2 Tickets to Chris Cornell at the Vic
Pat Van Wagoner – 2 Tickets to Drive By Truckers at the Vic
Jori Kovarsky – 2 Tickets to Cage the Elephant at the Vic
Greg Berkowitiz – 2 Tickets to the Deftones at Riviera
Alyssa Flisiak – 2 Tickets to Cut Copy at Riviera
Colleen Hayes – 2 Tickets to Of Montreal at the Vic

If there’s one thing that Festa Parties is great at, it’s giving Chicagoans something to celebrate. Mardi Gras, traditionally celebrated in and heralded as a New Orleans gaiety, now has a home in Chicago thanks to BeadQuest! On Saturday, February 19, 2011, Festa Parties hosted its 3rd Annual Mardi Gras themed Pub Crawl through Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood. The familiar “Cubby Blue” was replaced with purple, green, and gold beads, feather boas, wigs, sequins – participants came out in full force and didn’t let a Windy City winter keep them from baring some skin. Over 1,200 people participated in this year’s event, which started at 2pm at Murphy’s Bleachers. Crawlers traveled to 12 different bars, collecting and competing for numbered beads throughout the day. Although BeadQuest is on a smaller scale compared to TBOX, it still had all the manic energy and unrivaled fun that has become characteristic of Festa’s events.

At 1030PM, Attendees returned to Murphy’s Bleachers around 10pm for a private DJ/Karaoke party and raffle drawing. Prizes included complimentary tickets to TBOX 2011, gift certificates to Chicago’s hottest bars, tailgate swag from lead sponsor Miller Lite, and Opening Day Cubs Rooftop tickets. Festa Parties took the winter doldrums, slapped some Mardi Gras beads on them, flashed them cool bottles of Miller Lite, and turned an otherwise uneventful winter weekend into something to celebrate!  It’s what we do!

To view all of the Mardi Gras BeadQuest Pub Crawl Photos from 2011, View Our Gallery Here.

In conjunction with their Sponsorship and Donations to Chicago Dance Marathon, Festa Parties has partnered with CDM volunteers by providing them a table and marketing opportunity at the BEADQUEST III Pub Crawl event.  CDM volunteers set up shop at Murphy’s Bleachers, the home bar and beginning and end of the crawl, where CDM Volunteers were able to distribute literature and educate participants on the event. Festa Parties also placed the CDM Logo on its event t-shirts and distributed information through its event newsletters, as well as in participants information packets.

For more information on the Chicago Dance Marathon, Click Here!

“Where kids come first.” This is the slogan for Children’s Memorial Hospital, Illinois’ only hospital that’s exclusively for kids. In 2010, CMH treated over 146,000 patients and its Family Services programs are the best in the nation. CMH relies heavily on funding to support its growing number of patients. One such organization that directly benefits CMF is CHICAGO Dance Marathon (CDM). CDM is a 13 hour “dancing marathon” event – participants must stand on their feet for the entirety of the event in honor of the children receiving treatment there. Since September, business entrepreneur Christopher Festa, has worked closely with CDM. His company, Festa Parties (mastermind behind the insanely popular “Twelve Bars of Xmas – TBOX” Pub Crawl) was a Bronze Sponsor at their event held on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Chicago. Festa led a team at CDM, which is no surprise; TBOX is an 18 hour long pub crawl through Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood, so 13 hours of fun was a walk in the park for him and his crew. Festa’s second business, Great To Be Here Tees, recently donated children and infant apparel to the children at the hospital. This is just one of the many charities Festa and his businesses have supported over the years. To learn more about the CHICAGO Dance Marathon and ways to get involved next year, please Click Here!

Chicago Dance Marathon