Despite Lollapalooza cofounder Perry Farrell reportedly saying that festival organizers have reached a deal to keep the flagship music festival in Chicago for another decade, no such agreement is yet finalized.
A spokesman for Texas-based C3 Presents, which puts on Lollapalooza, said its negotiations continue with the city and the Chicago Park District.
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“We have no official agreement, but we are hopeful to have one as conversations continue,” Guy Chipparoni, a consultant for C3 Presents.
A city official declined to comment, referring questions to C3.
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Lollapalooza’s previous agreement, which was signed in 2012, was set to expire after last year’s festival, but the parties agreed to execute a one-year extension option.
This year’s festival opened Thursday in Grant Park and runs through Sunday.
Once a traveling festival that found a home in Grant Park in 2005, Lollapalooza draws crowds of 400,000 over the four days it takes place and generates millions in local economic impact and revenue, C3 has said. When the Lollapalooza agreement was 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.
But it has also sparked skepticism over the lack of transparency from the Chicago Park District over its continued presence at the park, and neighboring aldermen have complained about the noise and other nuisances. For example, the one-year extension inked in 2021 was done behind closed doors, without any public discussion or vote. Neither was the decision to extend the festival from three days to four starting in 2016.
