As the world's top leaders and the anti-war protesters finalize their plans for the NATO Summit, grass-roots organizers are hoping to finalize their own plans to host a free music and entertainment festival that same weekend.
Organizers for the proposed four day festival at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park are waiting on approval from the Chicago Park District, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report. The event would conclude on May 21, the same day as the summit.
The tentative name of the festival, "Barefoot Summit," is a nod to Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot," and acts have already been confirmed, the Sun-Times reports. Among those who will be in attendance are singer-songwriter Tom Morello, the Chicago poetry ensemble Louder Than a Bomb and filmmaker Haskell Wexler, a native Chicagoan who filmed “Medium Cool” during the 1968 Democratic convention, the report said.
Last month the city and the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda agreed on an alternate route for their protest which will begin at the Petrillo band shell on May 20. Part of the agreement included waiving the fees to use the band shell for that date.
