State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, says since profits from events go to the Chicago Park District’s general operations fund, the financial gains from Riot Fest don’t help his constituents directly. He has proposed a 2% community benefits tax.
Chicago Park District
Individual pool schedules will be posted to the district’s website.
After a rough summer in 2022 when a lifeguard shortage left the Chicago Park District scrambling to open even a fraction of its pools, the district doubled down on recruitment efforts in 2023.
Riot Fest received permit approval from the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, over the objections of opponents who’ve campaigned for more than a year to keep the festival out of Douglass Park.
Broadway Armory Park is one of Chicago Park District’s largest indoor and active recreational facilities. Residents are worried this would mean youth and senior programs getting canceled or postponed and said it would be a loss for the neighborhood ahead of summer.
Beach season will run through Sept. 4. The city’s pools are expected to open by June 23.
The Foo Fighters, The Cure and Death Cab for Cutie are among the headliners announced Tuesday by Riot Fest. Whether they’ll take the stage is still up in the air.
NASCAR Cup cars will be outfitted with mufflers, just one of the actions being taken by race organizers to head off concerns about noise.
Opponents want Riot Fest out of Douglass Park, but supporters of the festival say it has been an asset to the North Lawndale community.
Peak bloom is still a couple weeks away, but the buds are beginning to burst forth in Jackson Park’s Cherry Blossom Grove.
Free concerts, theater and dance performances, and workouts are also part of the slate of summer events in Millennium Park announced Thursday by city officials.
A new policy gives Park District commissioners final say over permits for so-called “mega festivals.” It received its first test Wednesday.
Leaders of both museums cited inflation and the higher cost of wages and benefits among the reasons for raising admission fees.
The Chicago Park District is offering teenagers a chance to work where they play this summer in seasonal positions like recreation leaders, lifeguards and junior laborers.
The Chicago Park District has been setting its land ablaze on purpose, these fiery scenes leading to healthier natural areas.
It will be up to the next mayor to decide how to respond to Chicagoans’ growing frustration with these mega-events.
