CHICAGO — A Labor Day festival for East Side has been postponed to next year, when it will be "done right and done even bigger," its organizer said.
Roman De Lion, of Hegewisch, tried to put together the four-day festival for the weekend leading up to Labor Day, but he ultimately decided to postpone the event, move its location and add more entertainment. He expects the festival to bring in thousands of people and is planning to line up national music acts, a carnival, a large fireworks show and smaller activities.
Putting together a festival of that magnitude was a "big obstacle," De Lion said, given the limited time the organizers had to plan it — three months. A festival of the size organizers planned for needs nine months to a year for setup, De Lion said.
"I wanted to do it right," De Lion said. "I wanted to make sure I had the security, I had everything in order."
The Labor Day festival is one of four events De Lion wants to bring to the 10th Ward. He is also planning a one-day festival for Hegewisch, a Community Day for East Side and an Oktoberfest where local brewers will be featured.
The festivals are run through a non-profit so any money made from them "stays and circulates back into doing more events," said De Lion, who also owns the Under the Bridge Art Studio, 10052 S. Ewing Ave. He is creating the festivals as a way of giving the community's kids something to do.
"When I was younger, I didn't have the access to an art school or music or anything else. As a kid, I got into trouble," De Lion said. "My drive is for the kids — my own as well a everybody else's. I want to give these kids something to do [that's] positive instead of getting into trouble."
De Lion said next year's festival, which will last the Friday to Monday of Labor Day weekend, will be held at 87th Street off the lake and admittance will be free. Organizers will line up sponsors — they already have some from this year who plan to participate next year — and charge vendors a fee to set up so the festival breaks even, De Lion said.
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