A community effort to boot Riot Fest from Douglass Park gains momentum

Some Little Village and Lawndale residents say they are fed up with music festivals like Riot Fest taking over the green space they rely on.

Riot Fest
Manuel Martinez / WBEZ
Riot Fest
Manuel Martinez / WBEZ

A community effort to boot Riot Fest from Douglass Park gains momentum

Some Little Village and Lawndale residents say they are fed up with music festivals like Riot Fest taking over the green space they rely on.

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After a contentious meeting between community members and a Riot Fest contractor last week, a petition to remove the music festival from Douglass Park on the West Side has collected nearly 1,400 signatures.

Meanwhile, organizers from the surrounding neighborhoods of Little Village and Lawndale are calling on artists to cancel their performances at the event, which is scheduled for Sept. 16-18.

Reset explores what some residents are demanding, and how festival organizers and the city are responding.

GUESTS: Sara Heymann, organizer with Únete La Villita

Juanita Irizarry, executive director of Friends of the Parks

Edith Tovar, senior just transition organizer at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO)