For the first time PIV has been applied simultaneously with acetone-PLIF in the freeboard of a fluidized bed. Here, the eruption profile of single bubbles and a continuous stream of bubbles were studied. As stereoscopic PIV was applied the out-of-plane component of the velocity was also measured. The out-of-plane component is not negligible. The observed bubble eruption patterns were in general agreement with the bubble model of Levy and Lockwood,(24) Yorquez-Ramirez and Duursma(5) and Solimene et al.(1) No qualitative difference between the eruption of a single bubble and a stream of bubbles was observed. Based on the calculated vorticity of the gas in the freeboard, it was found that the bubble induced turbulence decays fairly rapidly. (C) 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 55: 1369-1382, 2009