On a crowded CTA bus after this summer's Taste of Chicago, a 61-year-old woman pulled out a small bubble gun and started filling the aisle with soap bubbles. Passengers screamed with delight, and the bus driver seemed just as thrilled as everyone else. That woman, Bridget Josey of south suburban Lansing, has become known around the city simply as the Bubble Lady.
Josey's habit of bringing bubble guns onto Chicago buses and into public spaces has turned her into something of a local celebrity, according to Block Club Chicago. She grew up on Chicago's South Side and now works in records and information management for the federal government. She began blowing bubbles on her own after first playing with them alongside her 5-year-old grandson, and the habit stuck. She has since created an Instagram account documenting her bubble outings, and one video of her in action has racked up more than 200,000 views.
Josey rode that packed CTA bus home from the Taste of Chicago after someone spotted her and she brought her bubbles out, prompting cheers from riders around her. It is the kind of scene that has now played out repeatedly across the city's transit system, which remains one of the busiest in the country. The CTA operates more than 2,000 buses across 127 routes serving Chicago and 35 surrounding suburbs, completing nearly 19,000 daily bus trips, and regional fixed-route ridership climbed by 12.3 million rides in 2025 to reach 373.5 million total trips, with CTA buses alone logging 184 million rides.
Bubbles Fall Into a Regulatory Gray Area
Notably, Josey's bubble-blowing exists outside the usual rules governing performers on Chicago's transit system and sidewalks. CTA ordinances bar unauthorized sales, begging, littering, and sound-emitting devices audible to others, but non-disruptive personal activities like blowing bubbles are not explicitly restricted. The city separately requires street performers on public sidewalks to hold a two-year permit costing $100, or $50 for seniors 65 and older, though those permits cannot be used on CTA vehicles or platforms in the first place. Josey's impromptu bus routine, in other words, doesn't fit neatly into either category, which may be part of why drivers and riders alike simply seem to embrace it.
Josey carries small bubble guns for her outings, including ones decorated like a mermaid princess and shaped like Nemo from Finding Nemo, which she carried during a visit to Navy Pier in late August. Both Navy Pier workers and visitors reacted warmly to her bubbles that day, with one staffer even asking for some. Navy Pier, a nonprofit civic landmark and the city's second most visited tourist attraction, welcomed 8.3 million guests in 2025 across its 50 acres of lakefront parks and exhibition halls, giving Josey a substantial audience whenever she shows up with her bubble guns.
From Grant Park to a Brush With Perry Farrell
Josey has also brought her bubbles to some of Chicago's biggest summer gatherings, including the Black Women's Expo, a White Sox game, and Lollapalooza. This summer's Taste of Chicago marked the festival's 46th year and its return to its traditional peak-summer Grant Park slot after three consecutive years of being pushed to September for downtown street races. Lollapalooza, meanwhile, has called Grant Park home since 2005 and now draws roughly 400,000 attendees over four days each summer. It was there that Josey blew bubbles toward festival founder Perry Farrell and met him in person, a moment that stood out among her many public appearances. The Black Women's Expo, held at McCormick Place under the theme “We Matter,” marked its 31st year this summer as well.
Josey has said her motivation is simple. “I just want to spread some joy with my bubbles,” she said, according to Block Club Chicago's reporting. She has also framed her bubble habit as a small counterweight to heavier news cycles, saying, “We have so much happening now in the world and if I can take them away for just minutes, I'll do it.”
A Bigger Bubble Event, and New Places to Visit
Josey, who attends church, believes her efforts have a ripple effect beyond the moment itself. “I believe all the people I encounter today, they'll have a bit more joy because my bubbles touched them,” she said. She hopes the bubbles can encourage people to choose joy during difficult times, and she is not done expanding where she brings them — she hopes to eventually visit children's hospitals and nursing homes with her bubble guns.
Her biggest ambition yet is organizing a large-scale bubble event of her own. “I want to have a bubble event,” Josey said, envisioning about 100 people wielding bubble guns together. For now, though, her stage remains largely improvised: a crowded bus, a lakefront pier, a festival crowd — anywhere in Chicago where someone might need a few minutes of unexpected joy.
