Chicago's Ice Ribbon Reopens November 13 in Two-Hour Sessions
Timed two-hour sessions on a curving outdoor ribbon, with the Loop skyline over the ice and a fresh resurface between every slot.
🧊 The Ribbon Season
❄️ A Ribbon, Not a Rink
The ice runs as a long curving band through a stand of evergreens, with the Loop towers directly behind it. The season runs November 13 to March 7 in two-hour sessions: 11:00 AM, 2:00, 5:00 and 8:00 PM on non-holiday weekdays, plus an 8:00 AM slot on Saturdays, Sundays and most holidays, with Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve running a shorter list. Ice gets resurfaced between sessions, so each slot opens clean. Sunset falls at 4:31 PM by mid-November, so the 5:00 PM session skates into the dark.
💵 What Each Slot Costs
Every skater needs a ticket for a named session, and a free session still needs one. Rental skates cost $17 online Monday through Thursday on non-holidays and $21 from Friday through Sunday, on holidays, and through the Holiday Season; paying at the gate runs $19 and $23, sold only while a session has room. Skaters with their own pair pay $5, or nothing at the 11:00 AM session Monday through Friday on non-holidays and at the 8:00 AM session on weekends and holidays that run one. Note the two clocks: the rental discount stops on Thursday, while the free weekday session runs through Friday.
🧤 Before You Go
Book early: reservations drop in rolling blocks at 12:00 PM CST on Mondays, and the November 2 release covers November 13 through November 29. Once a session sells out online, there is no waitlist and no walk-up sale. Management refunds the whole booking when weather or another problem closes the ribbon; a self-service transfer needs at least three days' notice and a $3 fee. The gate sits at 337 East Randolph Street, a short walk across the BP Bridge from Millennium Park, and rental skates run in whole sizes from child 8 to adult 15.
