LAKEVIEW — Neighbors said a new music festival on Lincoln Avenue wreaked havoc on their July Fourth weekend and want to see big changes from organizers next year.
High on many neighbors' list of changes: Booting the fest from their block.
"A couple of residents have asked how big of a check they'd need to write to get it moved," said Yael Hochberg, president of a nearby condo association at Lincoln and School. "We desperately want this thing gone.
It's the first year for the new Live on Lincoln festival, which replaces what began more than a decade ago as Rock Around the Block before revamping as the Taste of Lakeview a few years back.
But Taste of Lakeview failed to capture attention amid a crowded summer schedule of Chicago street festivals, especially when it clashed with the popular Burger Fest in Roscoe Village, said Will DeMille, president of West Lakeview Neighbors.
So when promoter Star Events offered the new take on a non-cover band music festival this year, "to some of our board members, it was definitely an interesting idea," DeMille said. "We wanted something different."
But if neighbors are dissatisfied with the results, DeMille said his group will happily tinker with the format for next year.
"We're continually asking people to give us feedback," DeMille said. "The problem is that anything — good or bad — will be somewhat disruptive. With any street closure, any festival, you're going to inconvenience someone."
He noted that police and the alderman's office did not receive complaints of noise that he was aware of. Others at the meeting also spoke positively about the new format.
The festival has provided about 80 percent of total income for West Lakeview Neighbors, that in turn uses the money for library and school programs and neighborhood beautification.
But neighbors in several Lincoln Avenue condominium buildings stretching a few blocks north from Belmont Avenue said the noisy festival, even in its past iterations, has long plagued them.
Fest attendees "assault residents, urinate on our buildings, leave their trash," Hochberg said. "We're accosted by death metal for an afternoon that goes all the way until 10 p.m. It's not enjoyable to our residents."
During a Monday meeting of West Lakeview Neighbors, Hochberg said empty beer bottles and cups were left strewn around the neighborhood following the two-day fest, and "we had to pay our building maintenance guy extra to get him to clean it up."
One resident surveying the scene from a balcony was hit by a drone that was recording the music performance, she added.
Her neighbors, which include elderly residents and people with disabilities, plan to write a letter to Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) asking for a change in the festival location.
Hochberg, a former West Lakeview Neighbors board member, added that while residents appreciate the neighborhood festival, "surely there is some block that is more commercial" in the area where the event would disturb fewer residents.
For two days starting July 1, Live on Lincoln hosted 14 bands performing on its main stage at Lincoln and Belmont avenues, with another 10 acoustic acts on a secondary stage.
Avoiding the ever-present cover bands that are common at Chicago street festivals, organizers sought out less-well-known acts largely from the indie rock, electronic pop and funk scenes. Performers included headliners Polica and The Motet, Chicago-based acts Jared Rabin and Mungion and others like Grandson, The Dig and Flow Tribe.
Star Events, which also organizes well-known festivals like Taste of Randolph and the Southport Art Festival, orchestrated almost the entire Live on Lincoln event, giving West Lakeview Neighbors a percentage of the overall profit, he said.
Next year, DeMille said the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce will be more involved in the planning, and that he hopes to find a way to get local businesses in west Lakeview more involved, as well.
"I think everyone wants to make it more special and a better asset for this community," DeMille said. "We're not trying to get a huge fest that brings in thousands of people; we want people from the neighborhood coming down from their balconies and coming to the fest. Whatever the formula is, that's what we want."
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Live on Lincoln replaced the Taste of Lincoln festival, which takes place this year July 29 and 30, instead of the Taste of Lakeview.
