Storm warning temporarily halts Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza, Chicago, was temporarily evacuated on Saturday following reports of dangerous weather conditions.
The organisers, Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications and the Chicago Police Department cleared Grant Park of all 60,000 ticket holders and 3,000 staff in 38 minutes, directing them to a number of pre-established underground evacuation and shelter sites along the city’s Michigan Avenue.
Lollapalooza organizers made the decision to evacuate Grant Park at 3:30pm in response to warnings from the National Weather Service and from five on site weather monitors that a dangerous storm was on its way.
Organisers notified festivalgoers through a range of channels, including:
- Public service announcements made at each of the festival’s eight stages
- Text message pushed to more than 40,000 subscribers of Lollapalooza’s official app, including directions to Michigan Avenue and garage locations for festival-goers not familiar with local streets
- Announcements made on Lollapalooza’s official website, Facebook page and Twitter account
- Announcements made by bands performing at the time
Organisers worked with the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications to closely monitor the storm and reopened gates at 6pm when weather conditions proved safe for people to return.
“We want to thank the tens of thousands of festival goers, staff, and artists who calmly and safely exited from Grant Park,” said Charlie Jones, partner of C3 Presents, the promoter for Lollapalooza. “We applaud and thank the City of Chicago for their cooperation and commitment to making Lolla a safe and enjoyable experience for all.”
Lollapalooza has also announced the launch of Lollapalooza Israel in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park. The event will take place August 20-22, 2013 with Lollapalooza Israel joining Chile and Brazil as the third international location for the festival. Lollapalooza is being brought to Israel by NMC United and Plug Productions Generator.
