The festivals were slated for this summer.
In the last months, the City of Chicago has seen a number of large festivals cancelled amid concerns for the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Since then, the big question has been whether the city’s biggest festivals, including Lollapalooza and Taste of Chicago would follow suit. Today, Lori Lightfoot announced that those festivals, among others, were hereby cancelled.
“We must provide ways for people to enjoy the spirit of a Chicago summer while prioritizing health and safety,” said Mayo Lightfoot. “As difficult as it is to remove these in-person events from our calendar, we are pulling out all the stops for an inventive, engaging and fun festival season this summer.”
Other festivals that have been cancelled throughout Labor Day include:
- Chicago Air and Water Show at North Avenue Beach
- Chicago SummerDance
- Chicago Riverwalk programming, along with that of the Chicago Cultural Center and Millenium Park
- Lollapalooza
- The Jumping Jack Program
- Taste of Chicago
Some of these festivals will feature a new series of “reimagined events” to substitute for the in-person festivities:
- Lollapalooza livestream event which will be held July 30 – August 2, that will feature performances from Chicago and beyond, archival sets, and never-before-seen footage from the 90s.
- Taste of Chicago To-Go — the event will support community restaurants and nonprofits as well as frontline workers with an expanded “Community Eats” program that will support 25 neighborhood restaurants and food trucks, online demonstrations from local chefs, and a food truck procession.
- DCASE and the Chicago Park District will feature six drive-in movie nights throughout the city in honor of the Millennium Park Summer Film Series
- DCASE will feature a series of 20 live events at local venues with musicians from Chicago
- SummerDance In Place will feature an interactive livestream of Chicago SummerDance that would connect small parties up to 10 people from across the city. The event will feature a half-hour dance lesson along with an hour of Salsa, Swing, and Line Dancing music on Wednesday evenings beginning in July.
- Millennium Park at Home music series will continue with performances from Blues artists including Melody Angel, Toronzo Cannon, and John Primer; it will also feature performances from Zeshan B, Braided Janes, Sen Morimoto; furthermore, it will includes a series of Tai Chi, Pilates, Yoga, and Zumba workouts.
“We wish we could bring Lollapalooza to Grant Park again this year, but we understand why things can’t move forward as planned. The health and safety of our fans, artists, partners, staff and community is always our highest priority,” Lollapalooza organizers wrote on their website.
Festivals that were previously cancelled include Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Do Division, West Fest Chicago, Dancing In The Streets, Chicago House Music Conference & Festival, and Gospel Music Festival.
[Featured image via Lollapalooza website]