The public face of the giant Lollapalooza music festival here is moving on.

Lolla operator C3 Presents confirmed co-owner and principal Charlie Jones, a key organizer of the event in Grant Park—and one of the Cs in C3—is no longer is with the company, which was acquired a couple of years ago by Live Nation.

Both C3 and the Chicago Park District say Jones’ departure will not mean changes in the event, at least for now.

Jones “has chosen to pursue other interests and we support him in that decision,” said another of the Cs, Charlie Walker, in the email. “There is no question that Charlie was a critical component to our success, especially early on.”

Added Walker: “It’s also important to note that Lollapalooza is greater than three guys named Charlie. It’s about our team of more than 200 of the industry’s top professionals who come to work every day at C3 Presents, and who will continue their work to keep Lollapalooza the pre-eminent music festival in the U.S. and around the globe.”

Park district spokeswoman Michele Lemons said the agency was paid $5.7 million by Lolla last year for use of the park, making it “the district’s highest revenue generating event.” More important, the district expects the money to continue to roll in, she added. “The personnel change will not impact the execution of Lollapalooza.”

However, the event has faced rising security and financial pressures in recent years, still selling out but with some passes available for sale as close as a week before showtime this summer. Both the Park District and C3 ducked a direct answer when asked if those pressures might lead to changes when Lolla’s current contract expires in 2021.

“Both parties are pleased with the terms of the current agreement,” which contains an evergreen clause that allows current terms to be extended with mutual approval, Lemons said.

Walker noted that 2021 will mark the festival’s 30th anniversary: “We are currently finalizing preparation for the 2020 festival, with the lineup to be announced this spring. Beyond that, we have a provision in our agreement with the city to extend the festival indefinitely, and we are excited about an even longer term partnership, which we intend to discuss when the time is right.”

Added Walker: “At this time, we have no plans to ask for a change in the contract. The city of Chicago and Lollapalooza are partners and we will continue to support the city and follow their lead. However, right now our focus and priorities remain squarely on Lollapalooza 2020.”

The festival pulls more than 400,000 people to Grant Park over its four days. Though some damage to Grant Park is done by the large crowds, proceeds from the event have been used to, among other things, completely replant and re-landscape huge sections of the park, which lost hundreds of trees to Dutch Elm disease and other maladies.

Though festival goers tend to be on the young side, it also attracts significant numbers of more upscale people and families.

“Last year, Lollapalooza Chicago hosted over 170 bands and hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world,” Walker said. It also “hired thousands of locals to work on the festival, and generated a quarter of a billion dollars in economic impact in 2019 alone.”

Jones was not immediately available for comment, but informed sources tell me the departure was amicable. Details of what he'll do next were not available.