CHICAGO — Grant Park is too wet for a Blackhawks rally, but fans will be able to celebrate the latest Stanley Cup win with a parade and rally in Soldier Field on Thursday.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. Thursday at Monroe and Jefferson Streets. It will run along Monroe to Michigan Avenue. There will then be a free, ticketed rally at Soldier Field. More than 60,000 tickets were released at noon Wednesday, with about 10,000 on the field. Fans will be able to seek shelter in covered areas of the stadium if there's rain.
Tickets sold out within minutes Wednesday on Ticketmaster, with many users complaining of website glitches that kept them from completing their orders. Minutes later, resellers posted listings asking up to $100 per ticket on Craigslist and other sites.
READ MORE ON WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH SOLDIER FIELD TICKETS HERE.
The city warned Hawks fans to be on the lookout for scammers: "We urge fans NOT to BUY tickets from any person or website as only free tickets obtained from Ticketmaster can be verified as valid for entry," the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events said in an email. "All others should be assumed to be invalid or counterfeit."
The parade will honor the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup win on Monday, when the Hawks took down the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-0, in Game Six. The victory was the Hawks' first Stanley Cup win at home in 77 years.
The Blackhawks have won three Cups in six years.
Kelly Bauer says the city is advising against buying tickets online:
More than two million people showed up for the Blackhawks' last rally and parade in 2013, according to the city.
The last Blackhawks parade ended in Grant Park. With much of the park still wet from Monday's storms, and potentially more rain on the way, Grant Park's biggest booster is glad this year's parade is moving somewhere else.
"It is a wise choice to move the Blackhawks rally to Soldier Field. Grant Park is just too wet and the turf would be trashed but without the funds like with Lolla to repair it," Grant Park Conservancy President Bob O'Neill said in an email. "This will be much better."
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