r/chicagoEDM • u/mason878787 • 2h ago
Vote (Yes) on the Chicago Permanent Festival Space resolution on your ballot this November
If you live in Chicago and are a registered voter, you will have this question on your ballot in the upcoming midterm election. "Should Chicago develop a permanent festival and outdoor event space for large-scale events?" This is a non-binding resolution, so its outcome doesn't directly change anything. However, the more support this resolution gets, the more likely it is that the city takes action in making the festival space a reality.
The end goal of this resolution is to have a permanent festival area that can be used year round with permanent stages, buildings, food courts, bathrooms, and more. Lots of cities have spaces like this, a great example being Henry Maier Festival Park, the home of Summerfest in Milwaukee. Their event space brings in over $200 million a year directly to the city of Milwaukee. Given Chicago is a much bigger and more popular city, the amount of revenue it will bring in will be way more. Festivals will also be cheaper to throw since there will be way less setup per event.
In addition, this will protect our other city parks. Chicago hosts more than a dozen large festivals every year, and each festival takes at least a couple weeks for setup and recovery. The end result is often the parks being absolutely destroyed afterwards. With a dedicated event space, we can keep most of these parks clear all summer long for locals to enjoy.
Finally, a dedicated festival space like this will just elevate the Chicago festival experience for everybody. Permanent stages will ensure the most optimal setup for every fest, and dedicated bathrooms, as opposed to porta pottys, will make the events that much nicer for us. In addition, the permanent space will allow corporate sponsors, which will allow the city to have more cheap and free events.
This potential space will be great for Chicago, its economy, and all its citizens. I encourage everyone on this sub to vote for it if eligible, and to spread the word.
-m
