CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Organizers of Lollapalooza say they hope to be able to decide late next month whether this year's open-air music fest in Grant Park will be held over the summer.
"We are confident that we will have enough information to make a definitive decision about the path forward by the end of May," Lollapalooza social-media accounts announced Tuesday. "Chicago is our home, and we will continue to remain optimistic about Lollapalooza 2020."
We remain in touch with our partners in the City of Chicago about this year's Lollapalooza. As the festival is still several months away, we are taking careful consideration to work through our options. pic.twitter.com/9vtGFSdvAC
— Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza) April 14, 2020The three-day music festival, which draws tens of thousands of concert-goers each year to downtown Chicago, was scheduled for July 30-Aug. 2.
It's just one of several major events that are in question as the U.S. and the rest of the world grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the curve in the number of new cases may be bending in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker last week suggested planners may wish to reconsider holding events that draw large crowds.
He later backed off a bit, after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it's too early to summarily cancel events scheduled for deep in the summer. Pritzker agrees that data about the number of cases and the state's ability to test and treat patients will factor into future decisions about social-distancing restrictions. There is no vaccine and won't be one for several months, he has noted.
Currently, Illinois is under a stay-at-home order that has effectively shut down the concert trade. It will last at least through April 30.
"We remain in touch with our partners in the City of Chicago about this year's Lollapalooza," event organizers said. "As the festival is still several months away, we are taking careful consideration to work through our options."
