WRIGLEYVILLE — Like a bear awakening from hibernation to tend to her cubs, Wrigleyville is blossoming with Opening Day activity this weekend.
"It's just nice for people to be enthusiastic about the Cubs again. The team's starting to come together, and it's just generally more fun when people genuinely care about the team, and they do again," said Brad Zibung, founder of The Heckler.
Thanks to the newfound excitement, Zibung and The Heckler are bringing back Next Year Day, a season kick-off party Saturday at The Cubby Bear, 1059 W. Addison St.
While Saturday's party is jokingly called the 107th annual Next Year Day (the number of years since the Cubs won the World Series), the event has been around since 2003 but hasn't taken place since 2010.
Now, with a strong team in place, Zibung said it felt like the right time to bring back Next Year Day. The party will feature games and a raffle, and Too White Crew will perform. Tickets are $10, and doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Other Opening Day events this weekend include:
Smoke the Goat: The fourth annual Smoke the Goat Opening Day party will kick off at 10 a.m. Sunday at Sheffield's Beer and Wine Garden, 3258 N. Sheffield Ave. With the hopes of ending the curse of the Billy Goat by smoking goat meat, Sheffield's will have a smoked goat menu will starting at 3 p.m. that includes braised goat tacos, goat meatball sandwiches and a Mediterranean goat burger. Sheffield's will also have an acoustic brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. From 4 to 7 p.m., Nicholas Barron will perform live acoustic music, and Sheffield's will have giveaways, prizes and a raffle for tickets to New Hollands 2015 Hatter Days festival in October.
XRT Coors Light Opening NIght Live: Tune in to WXRT 93.1 FM from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday for a live broadcast leading up to the game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Fans can also stop by Yak-zies, 3710 N. Clark St., where morning show co-hosts Lin Brehmer and Mary Dixon will be giving away tickets to see the Foo Fighters at Wrigley Field on Aug. 29 and "Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" at Soldier Field July 4 weekend. The show will feature live performances by Rhett Miller, The Ting Tings, The Waco Brothers and Ivan & Alyosha. Admission is free, but attendees must be 21 years or older.
Newport specials: Newport Bar and Grill, 1344 W. Newport Ave., will offer specials before and after Sunday's 7:05 p.m. game. The bar will have $2.50 domestic bottles, $5 Barcardi bombs and $5 Cubbies bombs (Red Bull and Bacardi flavored rum). Doors will open at 10 a.m. Monday for noon baseball games, and fans can watch their favorite teams on the bar's 19 high-definition televisions.
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