TBOX Reduces Size to 20,000 Participants

The Twelve Bars of Christmas (TBOX), a Christmas-themed bar crawl, will be reducing its size from 40,000 to 20,000 this year, and nearly 100 security and off-duty law enforcements have been contracted for the event. 

This year's event will be taking place on Sat. Dec. 14 in Lake View (primarily concentrated in Wrigleyville). The event begins at 8 a.m. and lasts until 8 p.m. Part of the proceeds, a minimum of $75,000,  will go to the Lakeview Pantry and tickets — which are only being sold before the event and will not be available at the door — are $42.50 each. 

TBOX drew criticisms from officials and residents last year, after the influx of people to the neighborhood caused busses to be rerouted, according to DNAinfo. There was also a lack of security, vomit on the streets and property damage. 

In a letter to participating bars, the organizers of TBOX noted some of the changes to the 2013 event, including an emergency plan and transit plan have been put into place, nearly 100 security and off-duty law enforcement officers have been contracted and several first aid stations have been added. In addition, a private service has been hired to clean all public areas throughout the event, additional dumpsters and recycling bins have been added and 50 porta-potties will be placed around the area. 

For this year's TBOX, the event organizers are also requiring participating establishments to have reasonably-priced food specials that are quickly available, and water and non-alcoholic drinks will be available at all establishments at all times. 

According to its website, TBOX, which bills itself as "The World's Most Spectacular Pub Crawl" attracts participants from across the country and has led to "dozens of marriages." 

Check out a full list of participating TBOX bars here.