On Thursday (July 28), the opening day of Lollapalooza 2022, a group of activists protested the festival over Chicago’s ongoing youth curfew, as CBS News reports. The group included members of GoodKids MadCity and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council. A letter to the city calling for the order to be rescinded claimed the measure was unconstitutional and disproportionately affected Black and brown teens.
The weekend curfew was recently rolled back from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. by the Chicago City Council after a 16-year-old named Seandell Holliday was shot and killed during a large gathering in Millennium Park in May. While the ordinance applies to anyone under 18, but attendees of ticketed events—such as Lollapalooza—are exempt, a loophole that activists say unfairly benefits wealthy tourists and white suburban teens while penalizing Black and Brown youth. Pitchfork has reached out to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office for comment.
Lollapalooza continues in Chicago’s Grant Park through Sunday, July 31.