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Lollapalooza returning this summer: ReportSun-Times staffon May 14, 2021 at 12:13 am

Will Lollapalooza return to Grant Park for a live event this summer? | Santiago Covarrubias/For the Sun-Times

The biggest summer music festival in Chicago will once again be a reality this year, according to an exclusive report by Variety.

The publication’s website reported Thursday the festival is scheduled to return as a live, in-person event July 29-Aug. 1 in Grant Park. Variety said Lolla has the city’s OK to operate at near- or -full-capacity, and that a schedule and lineup announcement is expected to come next week.

Lollapalooza fell victim to the COVID pandemic’s mandatory shut-down of all indoor/outdoor venues and mass gatherings last year, pivoting to an online free streamed event.

A promoter at Lollapalooza organizer C3 Presents declined to comment on 2021 plans. As of Thursday evening, the official Lollapalooza Twitter account had yet to make any official announcement, and the festival’s website still listed information for the 2020 event.

When asked to confirm news of the festival’s return, a press representative for the office of Mayor Lori Lightfoot told the Sun-Times: “While conversations have been moving forward in a positive way, nothing has been confirmed.”

The city’s official Phase IV “be safe” guidelines for gatherings currently call for any outdoor, general admission spectator events to limit capacity to 15 people per 1,000 square feet. On Friday, the city moves to Gov. Pritzker’s “Bridge Phase” for reopening, which shifts those guidelines to 30 people per 1,000 square feet of space. In addition, the CDC on Thursday recommmeded that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most instances.

The governor tweeted: “I firmly believe in following the science and will revise my executive orders in line with @CDCgov guidelines lifting additional mitigations for vaccinated people.”