The home of Riot Fest Chicago is subject to change this summer due to negative attitudes expressed by locals to Alderman Roberto Maldonado.
Ald. Maldonado has been reported saying that the residents and neighbors of Humboldt Park do not want the music festival in their neighborhood this year for a variety of reasons. The most important reason being the damaged state of the grounds post-festival. “Four Sundays ago…two of the diamonds were unusable for the opening games of the softball league,” Maldonado said. The Chicago Park District has gone on public record saying that the festival caused a total of $182,000 in property damages in 2014.
Earlier this month, Riot Fest released a full article on their website detailing the projects and initiatives they have implemented to restore the parks damaged areas. The article explains that there have been statements released that do not accurately portray the work they have done to revitalize the park and feel as if though they are not getting the credit they deserve. They even express the approval of the Chicago Park District to the restoration work they have done thus far, and note that Alderman Maldonado and his staff have turned a blind eye to the matter.
A petition has been started at change.org by local residents who think that Ald. Maldonado is wrong in his assessment and seeks to keep Riot Fest in Humboldt Park. They have already garnered over 8,000 signatures in hopes of reaching a grand total of 10,000.
Regardless of the political situation, it looks like Riot Fest will have a new home this summer in Douglas Park. Riot Fest founder Michael Petryshyn has talked with Alderman George Cardenas on the matter, and has reported that “We are so very excited to get to know our new neighbors and to work with them to hold an event that is beneficial to the community, local businesses, and the resident.”
For now, Riot Fest is scheduled to be held on September 11th, through the 13th, in North Lawndale’s Douglas Park. The line-up is scheduled to be released to the public next week.
I actually heard from someone that Roberto Maldonado asked for a huge amount of money from the people that hold Riot Fest and the people of Riot Fest agreed to give him some money. You know how a lot of Chicago things go in politics. After the storm last years fest the park was messed up bad and that money had to go back into fixing it. So Roberto Maldonado didn’t get his money, now he’s pissed, and blocking them from bringing it back. Hurting all the buiseses in the neighborhood and hurting the people he is supposed to help. Now I along with a lot of others who love Riot Fest are going to donate a lot of money to whoever runs against him and make sure he loses his job and this story comes out to everyone. We are just waiting for it to break. The right people need to tell the real story. It’s coming soon, just wait.