Welcome to 2025, Chicago!

BEST DATE NEWS

Jan. 2, 2025: Best Date News Volume #107

Welcome to Best Date News, your favorite Chicago weekly newsletter! Happy New Year, Chicago! In this week’s newsletter you will read about budget changes for 2025 in Chicago, Chicago Theatre Week tickets, Derrick Rose’s pop-up flower shop, Chicago’s biggest 2025 concerts and more!

Jan. 2: National Holidays

• National Science Fiction Day

• National Cream Puff Day

• National Buffet Day

• National Personal Trainer Day

• National Ancestry Day

Chicago News

• 2025 Budget Hikes: Chicago has implemented some budget changes for 2025 that you should know about. Plastic and paper bags now cost 10 cents, instead of seven, per bag at checkout in Chicago, taxes on your streaming services (Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, etc.) have risen to 10.25% and ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft now have an additional weekend surcharge for downtown rides. These are just a few changes that just went into place. Learn more about the 2025 budget fee and tax hikes.

• Chicago Theatre Week: The 13th annual Chicago Theatre Week is set to take place from Feb. 6-16 in Chicago. This special celebration will feature great value theatre tickets to over 100 performances at theatres across the city. We are letting you know now because tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. next Tuesday, Jan. 7. Tickets will be available at $15 and $30 price points, and some will cost even less!

• Rose’s Flower Shop: Chicago Bulls legend Derrick Rose is doing a one-day pop-up flower shop, called Rose’s Flower Shop, in Downtown Chicago (350 N State St) today from noon to 4 p.m. Who wouldn’t want to order a rose from Derrick Rose?! Take a look at the video he posted on his Instagram page.

• Skyway Toll: For anyone who drives to (or from) Indiana or Michigan, your toll to cross the Chicago Skyway Bridge just got a little more expensive. As of yesterday, the one-way price of the toll has risen to $7.80. The toll has risen each of the last four years as it was just $5 back in 2021.

• Free Museum Days: If there is a museum in Chicago you have been wanting to visit, this is the month to do it! Not only is it a great activity for when it’s cold outside, but there are so many different days you can go this month! We highlighted free January museum days and gave the Shedd Aquarium its own post because they have an incredible 14 days this month!

Just For Fun

• NHL Winter Classic: ICYMI, the Chicago Blackhawks took on the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field on New Year’s Eve in the 2025 NHL Winter Classic. The Blackhawks may have lost, but Wrigley Field has to be one of the coolest venues to host an NHL game.

• 2025 Chicago Concerts: Curious to know what artists will be performing in concert in Chicago in 2025? Get ready for names like AC/DC, Kendrick Lamar, Justin Timberlake, Post Malone & Jelly Roll, Tate McRae and more. See the list of big concerts that have already been confirmed for 2025.

• Dry January: Participating in Dry January this month? If so, Chicago Food Magazine put together a pretty robust list of where you can find Dry January mocktails in Chicago and the suburbs.

• The Bear: 2025 will likely be the last year that we get a new season of The Bear. The hit, Chicago-focused TV show is set to drop its fourth, and likely final, season sometime around June of this year. The team at Eater Chicago put together a panel to predict what will happen in the show’s final season.

Poll Question of the Week

Last Newsletter's Poll Results

Poll Results: Last newsletter we asked if you planned on going out for New Year’s Eve and 70% of you said that you were staying in.

Sunrise & Sunset in Chicago

Here is today’s outlook in Chicago:

• Sunrise: 7:18 a.m. (1 minute later this week)

• Sunset: 4:31 p.m. (6 minutes later this week)

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