Lollapalooza plans to return in-person to their traditional location at Grant Park in Chicago, IL on July 29-August 1, 2021. The lineup will be revealed tomorrow, May 19 at 10:00 a.m. CT and 4-day tickets will go on-sale two hours later.
According to Variety, an unnamed representative for Chicago’s City Hall had stated last Thursday, “The Mayor’s Office and CDPH have been in conversation with several large event organizers, including the team at Lollapalooza, on how to bring these experiences back to Chicago in a safe way. We are taking these events case by case and determining how we can ensure the safety of our patrons. While conversations have been moving forward in a positive way, nothing has been confirmed.”
Soon afterwards, the city gave Lollapalooza the right to hold their festival in Grant Park during their usual date at the end of July. Like all major festivals set for summer 2020, last year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19. At the time of its cancelation, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot had stated, “The reality is, bringing 100,000 people in mass, in close quarters, which is what the daily headcount is every single day at Lollapalooza, bringing that many people from all over the country downtown in Grant Park every single day, we might as well just light ourselves on fire. It makes no sense given what we know about how this disease spreads, which is close intimate contact extended over 10 minutes.”
However, the US vaccine rollout has allowed for the festival organizers to feel confident in attendees’ protection from exposure to the virus. Lollapalooza states, “In accordance with current local public health guidance, full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results will be required to attend Lollapalooza 2021. For patrons who are not fully vaccinated, a negative COVID-19 test result must be obtained within 24 hours of attending Lollapalooza each day. Details on the festival entry process will be available in early July. If you have questions about COVID-19 vaccines or to find a vaccination location near you, please visit www.vaccinefinder.org.”
Journey guitarist Neal Schon claimed in January that they would be headlining Lollapalooza this year, but it’s an alternative music festival that typically features younger artists. The 2019 edition of the festival featured Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, Twenty One Pilots, The Strokes, Tame Impala, Flume, The Chainsmokers and J Balvin as headliners.
Lollapalooza’s six international festivals in Germany, France, Sweden, Chile, Argentina and Brazil had announced their 2020 rosters prior to each cancelation. The European festivals were set to host different lineups, including Kendrick Lamar, Pearl Jam, The Killers, Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus and Rage Against the Machine as headliners. The South American festivals each planned to feature essentially the same lineup, with Travis Scott, Lana Del Rey, Guns n’ Roses, The Strokes, Martin Garrix and Gwen Stefani headlining.
The 2021 Stockholm version of the festival has already announced their lineup for 2021, featuring many of the artists they had hoped would play the canceled 2020 event. Post Malone, The Killers, Kendrick Lamar, Veronica Maggio, Pearl Jam and Zara Larsson will be headlining.