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Rapper Common Pulls His Aahh! Festival From the South Side

By Sam Cholke | August 19, 2014 8:19am
 Rapper and actor Common, who grew up on the South Side, talks to kids at the South Shore Cultural Center during last week's three-day World Basketball Festival.
Rapper and actor Common, who grew up on the South Side, talks to kids at the South Shore Cultural Center during last week's three-day World Basketball Festival.
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DNAinfo/Sam Cholke

SOUTH SHORE — Rapper Common has pulled his Aahh! Festival from Woodlawn, moving it to West Town.

The festival was originally scheduled for Jackson Park on Sept. 20-21 as the kickoff for a fall youth employment drive by Common’s Common Ground Foundation and Kanye West’s nonprofit Donda’s House.

Tamara Brown, the chief operating officer of Common's Think Common Entertainment, said budget constraints forced the organizers to reduce the festival to one day and move it to Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph St.

"Union Park has an indoor structure already on the grounds," Brown said. "We are committed to supporting the entire city of Chicago, and we believe that both South and West side communities are equally important."

She said holding the festival at Jackson Park would have required building a temporary facility near the stage.

"Being our first festival, that was more than we could take on," Brown said.

Ald. Leslie Hairston said she found out the fest was moved when she called organizers to get details about using the park in the 5th Ward.

“It’s unfortunate, but I’m not the decision-maker on that,” Hairston said. “I always like the opportunity to show off my parks.”

The festival is part of a partnership between the Chicago Urban League and the Common Ground Foundation to find jobs for 5,000 Chicago youths. Organizers said the plan, announced with much fanfare in April, would offer South Side youths get jobs helping to get the festival started.

“One of the things that we're doing is hiring young people from our programs to work the festival, learn how to set up a stage, learn how to work a camera, learn how to market and promote,” Che “Rhymefest” Smith, creative director of Donda’s House, said in a July 2 interview with Chicagoist.

Brown said performers would be announced and tickets would go on sale Friday.

Organizers have twice announced tickets were going on sale, only to later delay the sale, first in May and most recently on Aug. 5.

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