Opposition To Riot Fest Reignites Ahead Of Festival's 2nd Year In Douglas Park

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 4, 2016 2:18PM

More than a year after the annual punk-focused Riot Fest uprooted from Humboldt Park amid criticisms that the festival fostered gentrification and represented misuse of public parks, the annual summer concert continues to draw some ire while in its second home, Douglas Park.

Concerned Citizens of Riot Fest in Douglas Park held a meeting on Tuesday evening at Freedom Square to discuss objections, speak with community members and plan actions to remove the festival from the Lawndale park. Group co-founders Sharaya Tindal Wiesendanger—who lives just a few blocks from Freedom Square—and Sara Heymann—a veteran of the local punk scene who ran the DIY space Mortville for five years—addressed a diverse crowd of roughly two-dozen people that night.

At the lot-turned-activist-campground, situated across the street from controversial police “black site” Homan Square, the group outlined an inventory of criticisms: slow, incomplete post-festival landscape repairs; local vendors being gouged with high fees and placed in undesirable, low-traffic locations on festival grounds; exacerbated drainage issues; and overall lost revenue for the park. Riot Fest has not agreed to a community benefits agreement that includes these concerns, among others, which was presented by The Douglas Park Advisory Council in March.

Riot Fest cleaned out the drainage works after the fest’s debut iteration, in September of last year, but woodchips used by crews subsequently reclogged the system, Heymann contends. The festival has also been a net deficit, she argued, due to the lost income of a closed soccer field, left unusable by grass damage. (They estimate $40,000 in lost income.) Games were cancelled one week before the season, and the park has stopped writing soccer permits for some fields altogether, she said.

The decision to put the for-profit festival in the public parkland of a “low-income community of color” still rankles Tindal. “How dare you bring something called Riot Fest when our community hasn’t gotten over the riot of ’68?” she said. “A carnival called Riot Fest?” (The added fact that the community is largely unfamiliar with the artists on the three-day bill was also brought up. The Chicago Westside Music Festival—also in Douglas Park—was offered as a counterpoint.) Riot Fest represented “gentrification, over-policing and selective enforcement of noise violations” in the mind of one neighborhood attendee.

(Festival co-founder Mike Petryshyn was reportedly resigned to moving to the festival to the suburbs last year, but was convinced to stay in the city by Ald. George Cardenas-12th Ward and Ald. Joe Moreno-1st Ward.)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ald. Michael Scott, Jr., whose 24th Ward includes parts of Douglas Park, disputes the group’s claims. Scott, a park supervisor in the early 2000s, said the park had “historically poor drainage.” “The grass was long overused and overworked,” Scott told Chicagoist. “Riot Fest has attempted to address the pitch issues. They’ve gone over and above the contract.” He challenges the soccer claim as well. “It has not been discontinued. Douglas Park has two AstroTurf fields that are used constantly. It’s a misconception that people cannot rent fields.”

Concerned Citizens acknowledges that drainage issues preceded Riot Fest, but maintain cleanup efforts have been lacking nonetheless.

And rather than a $40,000 loss, Scott insists Riot Fest has been an economic boon for the park, claiming generated revenue of over $200,000 in rental charges and fees.

As for community engagement, Riot Fest spokeswoman Heather West pointed out that residents were offered complimentary tickets last year, and will be again, through a registration that takes place on Saturday. Inquiries can be made through Chicago@riotfest.org (Heymann said such efforts are under-publicized and most residents she knows have not been made aware of the program.) As for park restoration, it “began immediately after event.” “Additional improvements and investment were made after the winter thaw,” West told Chicagoist in an email.

Representatives from the Park District did not return request for comment about grass damage and soccer permits.

As for economic impact, Jaime di Paulo, Executive Director or Little Village Chamber of Commerce, confirmed Riot Fest’s statement that local vendors are offered an 85 percent discount on vendor fees. And equipment-rental fees only run between $500 to $600, compared to $1200 to $1500 for Taste of Little Village. Asked about gentrification concerns, di Paulo told Chicagoist, “I’m deeply invested in the character of the neighborhood, but businesses want traffic. Money is money.” Di Paulo also mentions Riot Fest’s annual job fair as further proof of economic engagement.

But Little Village is only one of several communities that borders Douglas Park and is affected by Riot Fest, including North and South Lawndale. What di Paulo finds beneficial, others do not. One meeting attendee, Denise, 63, called Riot Fest “traumatic” and said concertgoers regularly urinated on her property, which stands near the park.

Riot Fest has a demonstrated history of alienating some neighbors, from the opposition in Humboldt Park to an ill-advised promotional stunt about a not-really-stolen Camaro to a very public spat with a local hospital. At the same time, they’ve clearly gained staunch political and commercial supporters, who argue vociferously in favor of the fest’s economic effects and organizers’ community awareness. Concerned Citizens of Riot Fest in Douglas Park would argue that such “table scraps” illustrate little more than public-relations lessons well learned. Wherever one lands on the issue, it’s clear that the opposition—currently smaller than the one manifested in Humboldt Park, but still organized and motivated—is not going away any time soon.