Wrigley Field Game Day Guide
Chicago Cubs · Chicago, IL
Know Before You Go
Essential details checked against official venue information.
- Bag policy
Backpacks, including clear backpacks, are not allowed. Other bags must be smaller than 16 x 16 x 8 inches and are inspected at entry.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Hard-sided coolers are prohibited regardless of size.
- Medical bags and diaper bags accompanying young children are exceptions.
- Bag storage
Wrigley Field does not provide storage for prohibited items, large bags, or luggage.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Gate opening
Gates open 90 minutes before first pitch for most games and two hours before Opening Day, Saturday games, and special occasions unless announced otherwise.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Mobile tickets
Cubs tickets are mobile-only through the MLB Ballpark app and are scanned at self-service ticket pedestals.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Re-entry
General exit and re-entry is not allowed after a ticket is scanned.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Ticket holders may use the Gallagher Way Gate to access Gallagher Way beginning during the first inning; re-entry there closes at the bottom of the eighth inning.
- Alcohol may not be carried between Gallagher Way and Wrigley Field.
- Prohibited items
The Cubs prohibit backpacks, bags over 16 x 16 x 8 inches, alcohol, aerosol sprays, air horns, drones, laser pointers, large or metal-tip umbrellas, and other listed items.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Rules may differ for concerts and other non-baseball events; review the full official list before leaving home.
- First aid
First Aid is behind home plate on the main concourse, with a physician, registered nurse, and emergency medical technicians on duty for games.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Automated external defibrillators are located throughout the ballpark.
- Nursing and lactation
Private nursing space is available in the Mamava Pod just inside Gallagher Way Gate and in the dedicated nursing room within First Aid behind home plate.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- The Mamava Pod is available from gate opening through the end of the game.
- Family restrooms
Single-occupancy restrooms are available around the main concourse, Southwest Airlines Deck, and Budweiser Bleachers; most restrooms have baby-changing stations.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- Tickets for children
Children age 2 and younger may attend a regular-season Cubs game without a ticket when seated on a parent or guardian's lap.
Applies to: Regular-season Chicago Cubs games
- Guest services
Fan Services booths are behind home plate on the main concourse and by the Budweiser Bleacher Gate.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- For in-game help, text 773-839-0282 with the word Friendly, your location, and the concern.
- The MLB Ballpark app also includes an Ask Fan Services tool.
- Service animals
Task-trained service animals recognized by federal law are welcome; pets and emotional-support animals are not.
Applies to: Chicago Cubs games
- A service animal needing a relief area may exit and re-enter through Gallagher Way Gate.
Game Day Timeline
What the day looks like at Wrigley Field, hour by hour.
Arrive in Wrigleyville
Take the Red Line to Addison and walk into the Wrigleyville scene. Clark Street is already buzzing with fans, bars are filling up, and the energy is building.
Pregame on Clark Street
Murphy's Bleachers, Sluggers, and the bars along Clark and Addison are packed. Grab a beer, a Chicago dog, and soak in the atmosphere.
Enter Wrigley Field
Walk through the gates and into baseball history. The intimate confines, the ivy, the manually operated scoreboard. It all hits different in person.
Watch batting practice
Stand in the bleachers and try to catch a BP home run over the ivy-covered walls. Waveland Avenue behind the left field bleachers is famous for fly ball chasers.
Find your seat
Settle into the old-school wooden seats (being replaced with modern seats in some sections) and watch the grounds crew prep the diamond.
Play ball
Nine innings at Wrigley, wind blowing out to the lake means a hitter's day; wind blowing in means a pitcher's duel. The wind changes everything at Wrigley.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
The entire ballpark sings 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game', a tradition since Harry Caray. A celebrity guest conductor leads from the broadcast booth.
Wrigleyville after dark
The bars on Clark Street stay packed after the game. Murphy's Bleachers, Sluggers, and The Cubby Bear are the post-game standards.
Tips & Fan Reports
Definitely take the Wrigley Field tour if available. The tour guides are knowledgeable and show you some cool stuff including the visitors clubhouse. Cubs parking lots do not allow tailgating unfortunately.
Take the Red Line, the Addison stop is literally one block from Wrigley. Driving in Wrigleyville is a nightmare on game days.
The bleachers are the most fun section - rowdy, social, and right next to the ivy. Bring sunscreen, there's zero shade.
Day games at Wrigley are the iconic experience. If you can pick your game, choose an afternoon start.
Murphy's Bleachers (across Sheffield Ave) is the classic pregame bar. Get there early on weekend games.
Weather
Wrigley Field is open air, so these are the conditions you sit in.
Across the MLB season the warmest month is July, with an average high of 85°F, and the coldest is April, when the average low is 41°F. May is the wettest month at 4.1 inches and September the driest at 2.8 inches.
That April low ranks 8th coldest of the 30 MLB venues, and May here ranks 17th wettest.
April
3.6 inchesMay
4.1 inchesJune
4.0 inchesJuly
3.5 inchesAugust
4.0 inchesSeptember
2.8 inchesOctober
3.5 inchesChicago Cubs Clear Bag Policy
Most venues require a clear bag. Get an approved one before you travel.
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How We Checked This Page
Every section below names the source it was read from and the day it was read. Where we could not reach a published figure, the page says so rather than presenting an estimate as a checked fact.
- Game day timeline
Gate opening time checked against the venue's own gate-opening policy: Gates open 90 minutes before first pitch for most games and two hours before Opening Day, Saturday games, and special occasions unless announced otherwise.
- Weather
NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals
- Venue policies
Wrigley Field security, policies, and accessibility guides reviewed for entry, family, payment, food, and accessibility rules.