#Lollapalooza canceled due to coronavirus pandemic

By Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone

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An enthusiastic crowd at Lollapalooza Festival 2019.
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

Lollapalooza 2020 has been canceled due to ongoing health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We wish we could bring Lollapalooza to Grant Park again this year, but we understand why things can’t move forward as planned,” the festival wrote on its website. “The health and safety of our fans, artists, partners, staff and community is always our highest priority.” As the Chicago Tribune notes, the festival was canceled alongside a handful of other local events, such as Taste of Chicago and the Chicago Jazz Festival. Lollapalooza, which was set to take place July 30 through Aug. 2, is held at Chicago’s Grant Park and typically draws about 100,000 people each year.

In lieu of the actual festival, however, Lolla said they would host a virtual livestream festival during the same weekend that will feature “performances from around the city and beyond, epic archival sets from Chicago and the festival’s six international editions, never-before-seen footage from the 1990s and much more.” A full schedule will be released next month.

The decision to call off Lolla comes weeks after the festival delayed its 2020 lineup reveal. At the end of March, the festival posted on Twitter, “Right around this time every year, we come together to celebrate the announcement of another incredible Lollapalooza lineup. For now, we are at home, taking care of each other, listening to music, and dreaming of summertime in Chicago. While we stay in close contact with local officials, we are well underway with planning for Lolla to take place as soon as it’s safe for us all to be together in Grant Park. We will provide updates as soon as we can. Until then, please stay home and take care of yourself and each other.”

Well before any decision had to be made about the Chicago festival, Lollapalooza was forced to postpone its 2020 South American run. Festival stops in Chile, Argentina and Brazil have since been rescheduled for November and December, with headliners Guns N’ Roses, the Strokes and Travis Scott still set to perform at all three events.

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the live music industry, prompting major festivals like South by Southwest, Something in the Water and Boston Calling to cancel outright, while Bonnaroo and Coachella have been pushed back to September and October, respectively.