Although Lollapalooza co-founder Perry Farrell said festival organizers have reached a deal to keep the flagship music festival in Chicago for another decade, that deal has yet to be finalized.
A spokesman for Texas-based C3 Presents, which organizes Lollapalooza, said their negotiations are continuing with the city and the Chicago Park District.
“We don’t have an official agreement, but we hope to have one as the talks continue,” said Guy Chipparoni, a consultant at C3 Presents.
A city official declined to comment, referring questions to C3. A spokesman for the park district could not be immediately reached.
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Lollapalooza’s previous deal, which was signed in 2012, was due to expire after last year’s festival, but the parties agreed to exercise a one-year extension option.
This year’s party opened on thursday in Grant Park and runs through Sunday.
When the current Lollapalooza deal was signed announced in 2012 after months of private negotiations, it was heralded as a “big win” for Chicago’s taxpayers, hotels, restaurants, cultural community and parks.
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Once a traveling festival that found a house in Grant Park in 2005Lollapalooza draws crowds of 400,000 over the four days it takes place and generates millions in revenue and local economic impact, C3 said. When was the Lollapalooza deal signed? announced in 2012after months of private negotiations, it was heralded as a “big win” for Chicago’s taxpayers, hotels, restaurants, cultural community and parks.
But it has also drawn skepticism over the Chicago Park District’s lack of transparency about its continued presence in the park, with neighboring council members complaining about noise and other disturbances. For example, the one-year extension signed in 2021 was done behind closed doors, without public debate or vote. Neither was the decision to extend the festival from three days to four starting in 2016.