Wrigleyville Closes Out the Home Schedule With Fan Appreciation Night — and Gallagher Way's Christkindlmarket Is Already Confirmed for the Holidays
By Socialhood News · Wrigleyville ·
Wrigleyville neighbors, the final home series of the 2026 regular season is underway right now — and it comes wrapped with a Fan Appreciation label that signals the Cubs organization is feeling good about what this block has meant to the team all year. At the same time, a separate announcement confirms that the neighborhood's calendar doesn't go dark once the ivy turns brown: Gallagher Way's beloved Christkindlmarket is officially coming back, with confirmed dates already locked in for the holiday season.
First, the baseball. The Miami Marlins are in town for the final Wrigley Field homestand of the regular season, and tonight — Tuesday, September 22 — first pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. CT. Wednesday's game against Miami is also scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT, before the series wraps with a Thursday afternoon finale on September 24 at 1:20 p.m. CT. That Thursday game carries a special designation on the Ticketmaster schedule: "Chicago Cubs vs Miami Marlins: Fan Appreciation," making it the official send-off game of the 2026 home schedule before the Cubs close the regular season on the road in Boston. Tickets for the remaining Marlins games are available on Ticketmaster.
Fan Appreciation Day at Wrigley has always carried a particular warmth on Clark Street. It is the organization's formal thank-you to the neighbors, the season-ticket holders, the bleacher regulars, and the casual fans who showed up all summer — and in a year where the Cubs have been chasing October, that gratitude has extra meaning. The Thursday afternoon game at 1:20 p.m. is a classic Wrigley day game setup: sun on the ivy, the hand-operated scoreboard ticking over, and a neighborhood that knows how to enjoy a Tuesday in September stretching one more afternoon of baseball out of the regular season.
Meanwhile, planning is already underway for what comes after the season ends. The Christkindlmarket at Gallagher Way — the open-air holiday market held in the plaza adjacent to Wrigley Field at 3635 N. Clark Street — has been officially confirmed for November 20 through December 31, 2026. The market runs Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with adjusted hours on Thanksgiving (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Christmas Eve (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and the market is closed Christmas Day. A Tree Lighting Ceremony is tentatively slated for Friday, December 4 at 6 p.m. Admission is free — no tickets required.
Gallagher Way is one of the most versatile outdoor spaces on the North Side, and the Christkindlmarket transforms it into something that Cubs fans who only know the plaza in its baseball context will barely recognize. Beyond vendor stalls, the programming includes ice skating, workshops, and holiday film screenings — a lineup designed to bring neighbors back to the block throughout the entire six-week run, not just for a single weekend visit.
Taken together, today's picture of Wrigleyville is one of a neighborhood moving confidently from one chapter to the next. The final home series of a playoff-caliber regular season is playing out under the lights on Clark and Addison this week, Fan Appreciation Day gives the block one more chance to show up for the team on Thursday afternoon, and the holiday season infrastructure is already confirmed and calendared. For a neighborhood that often gets described purely through the lens of gameday, the Christkindlmarket confirmation is a reminder that Gallagher Way and the blocks around it are built for year-round community life.
Neighbors, are you heading out to Fan Appreciation Day on Thursday for the 1:20 p.m. first pitch against Miami — the last home game of the regular season? And are you marking November 20 on your calendar for the Christkindlmarket opening at Gallagher Way? Drop your plans in the comments and let your neighbors know how you're spending the final days of Cubs baseball at Wrigley in 2026.
Sources:
1. https://www.ticketmaster.com/chicago-cubs-tickets/artist/805915
2. https://ultimatechristmasmarkets.com/usa/wrigley-field-christmas-christkindlmarket-wrigleyville/
3. https://www.gallagherway.com/