It’s been a long time coming -- 108 years, to be exact — but the Cubs are once again World Series champions. With every championship, there has to be a parade — Chicago has had plenty over the past 25 years (hey Bulls, White Sox, and Blackhawks), but now it’s the Cubs’ turn, and the city wasted no time getting the party started on a beautiful Friday morning, which you can watch below:
Cubs parade live updates and highlights from World Series celebration
The parade technically started at 10 a.m. local time, but so many people were already partying in the early morning, which is not surprising, considering that time fans occupied Wrigleyville’s bars at 4:50 a.m. before Game 3 of the World Series. This was the scene at Grant Park, the site of the rally.
Once the gates opened, Cubs fans were off to the races:
People also did trust falls off The Bowman statue, which, uh, seemed ill-advised.
Oh yeah, some people also smoked weed there.
Meanwhile, the Chicago River, which is usually dyed green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, was dyed in Cubs blue:
The workers who dyed the Chicago River did not come away unclean, unfortunately.
This is what it looked like at Union Station in downtown Chicago. It was packed.
Apologies for yelling, but THE BUDWEISER HORSES WERE HERE TOO:
Wrigleyville, as it should be, was packed with humanity:
On the night the Cubs won the World Series, WWE’s Paul “Triple H” Levesque sent the Cubs a custom WWE championship belt with the team’s logo on the side plates.
It eventually made its way on the waist of Kris Bryant.
At one point, an F-bomb was dropped on Chicago television:
As the Cubs buses rolled along from Wrigley Field ...
... there was a little mishap on the parade route, because the buses are apparently too high for Jon Lester’s hat:
This bus was pretty much reserved for Red Sox alum.
Anthony Rizzo held up the Commissioner’s Trophy like the happiest kid on Earth:
Take a moment to listen and watch the downtown Chicago crowd as the team buses rolled through:
If you watched the parade coverage and wondered where Jake Arrieta got a beer from, give props to ESPN’s Sarah Spain.
Grant Park kind of looked like they brought back Lollapalooza, but in November.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts dropped a clever trivia question for the fans:
Someone had to drop a swear word at the rally, and who better than pitcher Jon Lester?
World Series MVP Ben Zobrist took some time to explain why he went to the Cubs after winning last year with the Royals:
Anthony Rizzo gave the Game 7 ball — the one he caught to get the final out — to Ricketts:
Finally, the rally ended with a live acoustic rendition of “Go Cubs Go,” with the players and staff singing along with the crowd:
The Cubs are World Series champions. Does it still feel weird to say that? Maybe. But it’s real now. After 108 years, it’s real.
Congratulations, Cubs. See you in spring training.
