NORTH LAWNDALE — Park District leaders say city officials were blindsided by Riot Fest’s announcement this week that it would leave the city for a new venue in the suburbs.
Riot Fest’s new location, which organizers are calling RiotLand, will be at SeatGeek Stadium, 7000 S. Harlem Ave., in suburban Bridgeview. Promoters chose it because of its “convenient access” to Chicago and surrounding suburbs, according to an announcement posted Wednesday morning on the Riot Fest website.
The festival is scheduled for September 20-22. Two- and three-day passes are now on sale. The lineup includes Fall Out Boy, Beck, Slayer, St. Vincent, Dr. Dog, Rob Zombie, Pavement, The Offspring, Bright Eyes and dozens more.
The decision, announced Tuesday evening, comes after the festival that hosted Douglass Park for nearly a decade. The polarizing punk-rock festival had long drawn anger and praise from West Side neighbors, with some complaining that it was a noisy nuisance and an environmental waste while others called it a economic boon for the neighborhood.
Park District CEO Rosa Escareño said the move was a “business decision by the organizers” made without any discussion with the city.
“We worked very closely with the whole community and the organizers just a few weeks ago,” Escareño said at the Park District board meeting Wednesday. “So today’s decision, which we learned about last night, is also a surprise to us.”
The new Riot Fest venue will also shake up a nationally televised game on September 21 for the Chicago Red Stars, a women’s professional soccer team that recently drew more than 35,000 fans for a game at Wrigley Field. The Red Stars play most home games at SeatGeek Stadium.
The Tribune reported that the team did not have a backup plan for another site and that the cost of any new site “could be prohibitive.” Citing sources, the Tribune also reported that the team may take legal action.
“It is unfair and unfortunate to see our club find itself in this situation, highlighting the vast differences in the treatment of women’s professional sports compared to men’s professional sports,” Red Stars president Karen Leetzow said in a statement. communicated. “We are committed to ensuring our players and fans have a best-in-class experience on and off the field, and we are working diligently to find a solution that will ensure the success of our match on September 21.”
Riot Fest reporter Heather West declined to comment on the Park District’s comments or the Red Stars’ situation. She directed Block Club to a Sun-Times interview with Riot Fest co-founder Michael Petryshyn for more context on the movement.
In the interview, Petryshyn said organizers decided to move the festival after the Park District “started moving the approval schedule to us again.”
“What was supposed to be April became May…even though we followed all the guidelines. But there’s a story to it, it’s a repeating pattern. … I saw it as a series of broken promises,” Petryshyn told the Sun-Times.
Petryshyn said he regretted the decision.
“This is the hardest decision I have ever made in my life. This isn’t just about moving a location, and it would have been, in many ways, much easier to re-submit to an unfair and senseless process, judged by people who have never set foot in it. in North Lawndale,” Petryshyn told the Sun-Times. “But I think it was the right decision.”
Park District officials said in a statement Wednesday that Riot Fest’s permit application had not been withdrawn “and in fact, it is currently awaiting tentative approval by the Park District Board of Commissioners.”
“The Chicago Park District has worked tirelessly to balance the interests of the community and our special event organizers,” officials said in the release. “Community voices are essential to our decision-making process, which is why a comprehensive community engagement process is a necessary element in evaluating a permit application. Last year, Riot Fest organizers completed this process, received a permit, and held their event at Douglass Park.
Ald. Monique Scott (24th), whose district includes Douglass Park and who supported Riot Fest in North Lawndale, reiterated her “strong support” for the event Wednesday. She also blamed the Park District for Riot Fest’s decision, citing challenges such as delays in approving permits.
“The Park District recognized that the festival far exceeded minimum approval requirements and is expected to obtain approval for 2024 at the June 12 board meeting,” Scott said in a statement. “This decision, while appropriate, came too late. This unnecessary and inappropriate delay in the process, among many other issues, has led to critical setbacks in areas that include, but are not limited to, operational, financial, and community initiatives.
Scott did not respond to requests for additional comment.
West Siders divided over Riot Fest exit
Riot Fest’s move from Douglass Park drew a crowd of public speakers to the Park District board meeting.
“I feel like I’m at a funeral,” neighbor Eric Lindsay said. “Collaborations (of the festival) with the neighborhood have multiplied…. When something leaves, it rarely comes back.
Ana Solano, an organizing leader for a local environmental justice group, said Riot Fest organizers never made an unreserved commitment to supporting the neighborhood. She said her Beyond the Fest initiative, which supports internships for local youth and other investments in the neighborhood, only got off the ground after years of strong community resistance.
For Solano, it’s good riddance.
“Mega festivals in Douglass Park are an environmental justice issue…. The flooding is so bad that the grass no longer grows back the same way,” Solano said. “They weren’t giving us anything extra, they were just fixing what they broke.”
At City Hall on Wednesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Chicago continues to grow its party scene and host more events, from neighborhood festivals to mega-events such as Lollapalooza.
The mayor also said he was still gathering information “to understand where there may have been a breakdown in communication” between Riot Fest organizers and the Park District.
“As I’ve done most things, if not all things, in this city, we’re going to figure out where those disconnects are and find opportunities where we can either build, repair or create,” he said.
The years of controversy surrounding Riot Fest have increased scrutiny of the Park District’s process for allowing private events and the extent to which neighborhoods benefit financially from hosting them.
West Siders protested after three major festivals — Heatwave, Lyrical Lemonade and Riot Fest — all took place in Douglass Park in 2022, cutting off much of the park from the neighborhood for weeks over the summer.
The backlash has caused the Park District to review how it approves these events. Heatwave and Lyrical Lemonade moved to other locations in 2023, with the latter also choosing SeatGeek in Bridgeview.
Park District officials have repeatedly said that private events generate profits that benefit the entire public park system. Riot Fest promoters previously said the festival has generated $14 million in revenue for the Park District since 2015.
But parks officials also said the money doesn’t necessarily go directly back to the neighborhood parks that host the festivals.
This year, the Park District announced an initiative to redirect 10 percent of permit fees collected at special events such as Riot Fest – multi-day events with 3,000 or more attendees – back to the parks that host them, in addition to park restoration costs. .
Riot Fest typically attracts around 50,000 fans per day.
“A key part of the initiative is engagement opportunities in which residents will be invited to participate to provide feedback on potential capital improvement projects,” district officials said in a statement Wednesday.
Scott said it’s not enough “compared to the historic divestment of our park.”
“We would like to create an environment in which the Park District’s priorities align more closely with the needs and desires expressed by the residents of the 24th Ward,” Scott said in his statement.
“To ensure that underserved communities like the 24th Ward attract large-scale cultural events like Riot Fest in the future, I call on the Park District to work collaboratively to adopt fair and transparent practices that truly reflect the needs and the wishes of our community.”
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