Cubs' World Series Victory Parade Will be Friday

CHICAGO, IL — The city will officially celebrate the Cubs' historic World Series victory Friday with a parade beginning at Wrigley Field and culminating in a rally at Grant Park, according to Crain's Business Chicago. The event is likely to be the biggest public celebration Chicago has ever seen.

Details such as the start time and the parade route haven't been released yet. At a South Side economic development event Thursday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the celebration would begin around noon Friday, Nov. 3, but he didn't know the exact parade route, the Chicago Tribune reports. His suggestion for people who wanted to attend: "[S]tand somewhere in the middle of the city, and you'll see it," the report added.

"[W]e're going to have a parade in Chicago that will stand the test of time," Emanuel said at Thursday's unrelated event, according to the Tribune. "It will be a parade that 108 years have waited for. It will be a parade and a celebration that all of Chicago for 108 years in their mind's eye, have been envisioning."

Initially, city officials and the Cubs couldn't agree on a day for the celebration and spent Thursday morning working out the logistics, the report stated. Because of the magnitude of the event, the city wanted the event to be Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The Cubs, however, prefered Friday, so the team's exhausted players can start their much-deserved — and much-needed — vacation as soon as possible, the report added.

More Coverage of Cubs' World Series Win

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• World Series-Level Party: Watch Cubs Fans Sing 'We Are the Champions' and Mean It

Another reason in favor of a Friday parade was the fact that Major League Baseball's general managers' meetings begin Monday, Nov. 7, in Arizona, the Sun-Times reported. A celebration Monday could mean that Theo Epstein — Cubs' president of baseball operations and the architect of this world champion — wouldn't be able to attend, the report added.

Chicago parents also won't have to tell their kids they can't skip school to see the parade: Chicago Public Schools students already have the day off.

During the World Series, reports surfaced that if the Cubs won, the mayor had suggested dyeing the Chicago River blue, a spin on the city's tradition of turning the river green for St. Patrick's Day. On Thursday, Emanuel said he was still interested in the idea, but he wasn't sure if it would be effective, the Tribune reports.

More via Crain's Chicago Business and the Chicago Tribune

The Wrigley Field marquee after the Cubs' 2016 World Series victory Wednesday, Nov. 2. (photo by Tim Moran)

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