Grant Park in Chicago has been home to Lollapalooza every year in August since 2005. The music festival’s stay took a break in 2020 and came back a little smaller and stricter than usual in 2021. 2022 was the first year that Lollapalooza came back in full swing.
Here’s what happened.
- 400, 000 people attended the 2022 Lollapalooza festival in Chicago.
- 2022 was the first time that a South Korean artist headlined a major U.S. music festival.
- 96% of people planned to use drugs at Lollapalooza in 2022.
- 68 people were hospitalized at Lollapalooza in 2022, and 15 arrests were made.
- The festival expanded to India, which had its first Lollapalooza between the 28th and 29th of January 2023.
- It can stay at Grand Park in Chicago for another 10 years, thanks to a contract signed in 2022.
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Lollapalooza Highlights For 2022
It brings thousands of people to Chicago over the four days that it celebrates there, and the 28th to the 31st of July in 2022 was a celebration like the old days.
More than 170 artists performed across eight stages over the four days that it took place and over 400,00 people attended the event. Hip-hop and rap made up 21% of the acts in 2022
The headliners included Metallica, Dua Lipa, J. Cole, and Green Day. However, one headliner was not as expected.
J-Hope, a K-Pop star, was the first South Korean artist to headline at a major music festival in the U.S. when he performed at Lollapalooza in 2022. He closed the four-day festival with his main stage performance on the 31st of July.
This was also his first time performing as a solo artist on stage, and over 105, 000 people watched him from the audience. His performance reached a further 14.9 million viewers on Weverse LIVE.
Substance Consumption At Lollapalooza
Music may be the main event at Lollapalooza, but like many festivals, it is not without its party favours.
Innerbody Research conducted a survey in which they interviewed 1, 006 music festival attendees about their substance consumption at festivals. They found that 96% of their participants planned to take drugs at Lollapalooza, making it the festival where participants had planned to use the most drugs in 2022.
The participants of the study said that they had planned to use the following drugs at Lollapalooza:
- 64% planned to use Marijuana.
- 41% planned to use Cocaine.
- 37% planned to use LSD.
- 37% planned to use MDMA.
- 37% planned to use mushrooms.
Additionally, the study found that the percentage of participants who would have sex with a stranger was the highest, standing at 30% for 2022.
The Chicago Department of Public Health seemed aware of these trends and had warned 2022 festival goers of increasing risks of an overdose from fentanyl, which is commonly found in drugs like Cocaine and MDMA.
Crime And Hospitalizations
Despite the risk of drug-related or other injuries at the festival, there were actually fewer hospitalizations in 2022 compared to previous years.
- 68 people were hospitalized in 2022.
- 102 people were hospitalized in 2021.
- 116 people were hospitalized in 2019.
- 160 people were hospitalized in 2018.
Crime also took a downward trend at the festival. 15 people were arrested over the four days in 2022, compared to 19 in 2021.
The charges for those arrested in 2022 were:
- Theft
- Battery
- Trespass/Obstructing Identification
- Disorderly Conduct
- Obstructing A Peace Officer
- Making A False Police Report
- Issuance Of Warrant
- Domestic Battery
Lollapalooza’s Global Mark
One thing that has certainly not gone down over the years is the festival’s influence. It is in seven countries and it also takes place annually. It recently added an eighth event in India to its list.
The festival has expanded to the following countries:
- Chicago, United States. Since 2003, one of the biggest festivals in the US. 9 stages and over 170 performers.
- Berlin, Germany. Since 2015. Takes place at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
- São Paulo, Brazil. Since 2012.
- Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since 2014. More than 100 artists perform over 5 stages for three days.
- Santiago, Chile. More than 80, 000 attendees a day. It began as one of the first Lollapalooza outside of the U.S. and platforms over 100 artists.
- Stockholm, Sweden. Since 2019.
- Paris, France. Since 2017.
- And, finally, India- which made its Lollapalooza debut in 2023.
Asia’s First Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza landed in Asia for the first time when it made India its eighth destination in 2023.
The festival was held over two days between the 28th and 29th of January at Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai. The scale was unprecedented for a festival in India, and an estimated 600, 000 people came to the event across the two days- making it the biggest musical festival in India.
40 artists were featured on 4 stages and there were more than 20 hours of performances. The acts included global pop and rock bands as well as indie-Indian artists and desi-favourites. The performances were made inclusive with Sign Language Interpreters that interpreted the headlining artists’ songs and there was also a lane dedicated to wheelchair access at the event.
10 More Years For Lollapalooza At Grant Park
Lollapalooza’s tenure at Grant Park in Chicago is another thing that’s not going away anytime soon.
The Chicago mayor, Lori Lightfoot, announced that a new contract for the festival had been signed by the festival’s producers, C3, in 2022. The contract will be in effect from 2023 until 2032, with the possibility of a five-year extension.
The key points of the contract include the fact that 5-20% of all of the festival’s revenue streams will go to the Chicago Park District. C3 will commit $2.2 million to Chicago Public Schools as well as grant more funding for the renovation of the Grant Park tennis court. And daily attendance is capped at 115, 000, which had previously been 100, 000.
Lollapalooza And The Local Economy
The extended residency of the festival means that it will be able to contribute to the Chicago economy for at least another 10 years. The leisure traveller became key to Chicago’s economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is this kind of traveller that Lollapalooza tends to bring with it every year. With so many people attending the event, most hotels were sold out for the four days that it came to town in 2022.
Michael Jacobson, the president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, estimated that the hotel occupancy for the weekend of the festival in 2022 was in the high 80s and low 90s range.
The economic impact of the event ranges in the millions and allowed business owners to meet their 2019 numbers as a result of the increased foot traffic.
Lollapalooza 2023 Facts & Stats
As another year under the sun unfolds, so will another weekend of top-quality music and performances. It will take place from the 3rd to the 6th of August, 2023, at its usual home in Grant Park, Chicago.
The official line-up for 2023 has not been released just yet, but there are sure to be some big names crossing the festival’s stages once more which will make for an unforgettable experience of music.
Sources
https://latinamericanpost.com/41612-lollapalooza-2022-a-massive-hit-for-the-chicago-festival
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lollapalooza
https://www.britannica.com/art/Lollapalooza
https://www.innerbody.com/drug-safety-at-music-festivals
https://abc7chicago.com/lollapalooza-2022-chicago-business-impact/12086666/
https://news.wttw.com/2022/08/01/it-s-official-10-more-years-lollapalooza-chicago
https://global.lollapalooza.com/
https://www.pilotplans.com/blog/lollapalooza-music-festival
https://abc7chicago.com/lollapalooza-2022-chicago-lolla-thursday/12078289/
Nathan has always been captivated by numbers and patterns. With a Master’s degree in Statistics, he’s honed his skills to decipher complex data sets and discern market trends.
Over the past decade, Nathan has worked with various firms compiling and analyzing industry spending figures to forecast market movements.