Daley's flip-flop puts Taste of Chicago, lakefront festivals in worse position
By cover of snowstorm Tuesday, Mayor Richard Daley’s administration officially flipped-flopped on his notion to privatize and revitalize the city’s lakefront festivals, including Taste of Chicago.
In rejecting a bid by a joint venture calling itself Celebrate Chicago at a time when most of the city’s media was covering the snowstorm of the century, Daley put the city’s 2011 summer festival schedule back where it ended last year: deeply in debt and in dire need of rejuvenation. What’s more, most major summer festivals have already booked their headlining talent, meaning Chicago will have even slimmer pickings this year when it comes to booking bands for its marquee outdoor events, including Taste of Chicago, Blues Fest and Jazz Fest.
Last year, Daley said the city was facing a financial crisis and endorsed the possibility of charging admission for city festivals by hiring private operators. “You have to,” he said at the time, as quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times. “The cost factor was enormous for Taste of Chicago. No one made any money. … If it costs you more and more money every year for city services, how are you affording this?”
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