Organizers of some of Chicago street festivals are sounding the alarm about rising costs, and pushback about those suggested donations have increased.
Unlike city produced music festivals, neighborhood street festivals are produced by non-profits.
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WATCH HEREPamela Maass is the executive director of the Wicker Park-Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, which produces Wicker Park Fest.
She says people's attitudes toward the suggested gate donation has shifted.
"Typically, when people wouldn't have donated, they were polite," Maass said. "Last year in 2024 it was aggressive."
Maass says neighborhood street festivals do not get funding from the city, and many festivals are experiencing deficits, so she started the "save our streets" coalition.
So far, 20 festivals have joined, and more are expected to sign up.
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For example, The Square Roots festival in Lincoln Square is reporting a five percent decrease in gate donations every year since the pandemic, while expenses have increased by 63 percent.
Businesses like Transit Tees and Jackson Junge Gallery benefit from the extra foot traffic generated by Wicker Park Fest and would suffer if it went away.
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SIGN UP "I think people may not realize that their donation, those efforts to bring in original bands, support the overall staffing," said Transit Tees vendor Tim Gillengerten.
