Written by Maya-Rose Torrão
Last year, on the 1st of October, a 64 year-old man named Stephen Paddock opened fire at a crowd of Route 91 Harvest music festival-goers with a semi-automatic rifle, injuring 851 people injured and killing 28 people, making the incident the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the U.S. It came to light that Paddock may have also considered attacking other large-scale events and had booked a room overlooking last year’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, although he did not end up using it. Due to this information, the organisers of the 2018 edition of Lollapalooza will take no risks, to ensure the complete safety of all its attendees.
This year, Lollapalooza will be pushing back its security perimeter as well as adding a police patrol to the areas surrounding the concert venue. More police will also be stationed in the surrounding high-rise hotels and buildings, to alleviate fear over any future terror attack. The Chicago Police Department will also be involved, making sure that members of the local business community are on the lookout for anything suspicious as well as tracking social media for any threats.
In addition, Lollapalooza organiser C3 Presents has made changes to the restricted items list. Large backpacks with multiple pockets will not be allowed into the festival, but smaller bags and purses will be allowed. Upon entry to the venue, attendees will be screened by metal detectors and will be subject to individual, full-body pat-downs.
With these careful security measures in place, festival-goers can feel at ease at the 2018 edition of this award-winning festival. 2018 is bound to be an exciting year for Lollapalooza with many huge acts on the line-up including Travis Scott, CHVRCHES, Khalid, Post Malone, Tyler, The Creator and ODESZA.
