Riot Fest will be held as scheduled at Douglass Park in September, despite strenuous opposition from residents and community activists.
The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the permit for this year’s Riot Fest as dozens of community members gathered — both in support and in protest of the music festival — at the board’s Wednesday meeting.
Riot Fest, which has been held at Douglass Park since 2015, runs from Sept. 15-17 and is expected to draw roughly 50,000 people to the park daily. This year’s headliners include the Cure, the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age.
Residents at Wednesday’s meeting spoke passionately both for and against Riot Fest’s presence at Douglass Park. Some see it as an economic benefit for the park’s neighboring communities, and others say the music festival is a nuisance and a health and safety risk for residents.
Riot Fest organizers have held hundreds of meetings to get feedback from community members and have donated to organizations in the Douglass Park area, park district officials said during the meeting. The festival has also committed to better sound control, traffic management and park access.
Community activists and residents have for years sought to bar large festivals like Riot Fest from using the park. On Monday, they noted Riot Fest’s proximity to Mount Sinai and St. Anthony’s hospitals, calling attention to the potential disruption to patients and health care workers.
At the board meeting, resident Karina Solano said the park district and Riot Fest are profiting from the music festival at the expense of the neighboring communities.
“I am angry because we are not going to pretend this was a good and fair process for everyone,” Solano said. “This is a corporation with a lot of money and a sense of entitlement to people of color’s public space. ... Get the F out of our park.”
Among the Riot Fest supporters at the board meeting was Ald. Monique Scott (24th), who lives near Douglass Park.
Scott said the festival’s presence benefits North Lawndale by showing the neighborhood in a positive light and providing resources and employment opportunities.
“I am here to defend my community from people who don’t look like me, people who aren’t invested in my community,” Scott said. “Protesters, you are essentially opposing community development and growth.”
Derek Brown, the founder of Boxing Out Negativity, a community organization in North Lawndale, also spoke in favor of Riot Fest.
The music festival “has brought a lot of our youth together, gives them jobs, gives them something to do,” Brown said. “We want to welcome Riot Fest for stepping up and taking charge of bringing resources we have never got in our community.”
Myetie Hamilton, president of the park district’s board, said she voted in favor of the event because of the thorough community feedback the festival organizers gathered and the economic opportunities coming to the Douglass Park area.
Board members also unanimously approved the Arch Music Festival at Union Park, happening Sept. 1-3 and the Chosen Few Old School Reunion, a one-day event in Jackson Park on July 8.
