A bar crawl for bookstores: Holiday Bookstore Trolley tour to roll through Chicago area

CHICAGO - This one is for the bookworms out there! It's a festive and fun way to kick off the holiday season on wheels. Think of it like a bar crawl but for bookstores.

There has been so much interest in this tour that it sold out within 48 hours of launching. But don't worry – more stops are likely to come soon.

The Holiday Bookstore Trolley is a collective effort organized by the Chicagoland Independent Bookstore Alliance, with 43 bookshops participating.

What we know:

Book lovers will board the trolley for their pre-purchased time slot and visit between four and five local stores during the experience.

Participants chose from 10 different routes, each with a seasonal surprise at each stop.

Jordan Felkey, of Three Avenues Bookshop, says one of the best parts of this first-of-its-kind event is meeting like-minded people.

"Each trolley has like 25 ticket holders, so it'll be like a fun, small, intimate experience," she said. "And then additionally, there's like one other human who will be on the trolley as the guide. Some local authors are probably going to be on some of the trolleys and even some of them bookstore owners. So, we're excited. And so it's really cool because people get to connect with people they wouldn't have otherwise met. And what a cool gift to have for the holidays."

If this is up your alley, you can join the waitlist.

Felkey says she and other business owners are working to add more routes to the tour.