UPTOWN — A lakefront carnival planned by an Uptown couple won't happen this summer.
Uptowners Michael Snell and Derrick Sorles' Chicago Uptown Lakefront Carnival and Entertainment Festival would have taken place August 1-4 and included two beer gardens, a "dance area," and one stage for musical performances. It was planned for lakefront park space from West Lawrence to West Wilson avenues, would have included a dozen carnival rides and 20 or more food vendors, organizers said.
But Thursday the festival website announced that the event had been canceled because organizers' application for nonprofit status "has NOT been approved yet. And we cannot move forward until that happens." Originally, the festival was supposed to operate under a nonprofit organization "Saluting Our Heroes."
Festival organizers said on the site that they still hope to organize the event in 2014.
The original festival proposal featured five nights of fireworks, 100 food vendors, 10 beer gardens and two stages for music acts from June 20-July 7. The office of Ald. James Cappleman (46th), local commerce officials, business owners and residents expressed skepticism at the plan, which was considered too ambitious by critics.
On the other hand, a lot of folks thought it might be a great addition to the entertainment district in Uptown if it ever got off the ground — which it apparently will not this summer — despite earlier proclamations from organizers that the event was "a done deal."
Officials with the city and park district, however, maintained from the start that the festival was not a certainty, and that the organizers needed to gain various approvals from officials.
The news of the festival's cancelation comes on the same day organizers of the Wavefront Music Festival, which drew much criticism from Uptown neighbors, said it could be cut in half next year.
