Hundreds of thousands of music fans will descend on Grant Park this week for Lollapalooza, where headliners Lorde, John Summit, Charli XCX, The Smashing Pumpkins, Olivia Dean, Jennie, Tate McRae and The xx will perform during one of Chicago’s biggest weekends of the year.
That star-studded lineup is what brings roughly 400,000 people to Grant Park for the four-day festival, starting Thursday, July 30, creating one of Chicago’s busiest weekends of the summer. Long before the gates are set to open, city agencies, transit systems and nearby businesses have been preparing for the influx of visitors, expanding train service, staffing hotels and coordinating public safety efforts to keep the festival running smoothly.
Metra is expanding service for festivalgoers traveling to and from Grant Park. Metra is offering extra trains on seven of its 11 lines, will have additional railcars for expanded capacity and coordinate with the Chicago Transit Authority to accommodate the influx of riders.
Lollapalooza consistently ranks among Metra’s biggest ridership weekends during the year. On the festival’s opening day in 2025, Metra recorded 220,350 riders, about 5,500 more riders than Metra’s next busiest Thursday of the year. The Thursday of Lollapalooza in 2024 drew even more riders, reaching 227,771, making the festival’s opening day Metra’s two busiest ridership days since the pandemic.
“We’ve really kind of fine tuned it so we really know what we need to do,” said Micheal Gillis, Metra’s director of communications. He said that Metra reviews each festival and adjusts service where possible to better handle crowds.
Gillis encouraged riders to purchase tickets through the Ventra app before traveling and to make sure their phones are charged. Riders can purchase Weekday Day Passes, $7 Saturday or Sunday Day Passes or a $10 Weekend Pass through the app. Ventra users can also add unlimited CTA and Pace rides to a Metra Day Pass for an additional $2.50.
Metra and CTA will also post signs at Union Station and Ogilvie Transport Center, their two busiest stations during Lollapalooza, directing riders to CTA buses serving Grant Park, with buses also displaying Lollapalooza signage. CTA is also offering a $5 one-day, $15 three-day and $20 seven-day unlimited ride passes for festival goers attending multiple days or aftershow concerts.
The Chicago Police Department will have additional officers at Grant Park and surrounding areas during Lollapalooza “to keep all attendees, residents and visitors safe,” the CPD told the Chronicle in an email.
Last year, city officials reported 12 arrests and 42 ambulance transports over the four day festival.
While the Chicago Park District is responsible for sanitation inside Grant Park, the Department of Streets and Sanitation will focus on maintaining streets and parkways surrounding the festival grounds. Ryan Gage, the department’s public affairs director and a Columbia alum, said crews will also be available upon request from the Chicago Police Department for help if needed.
Gage encouraged concertgoers to properly dispose of their trash as a part of the city’s Keep Chicago Clean campaign, which launched this summer to reduce litter and improve public spaces across Chicago.
For some Columbia students, the biggest concerns aren’t the city’s preparations, but rather the cost and inconvenience of attending.
Four-day general admission passes started at $399 when they went on sale in March and have since been sold out, leaving fans to join a waitlist or purchase tickets through the festival’s official resale exchange. Single day tickets started at $185, though most have sold out now.
“If money and scheduling weren’t factors, I’d want to go,” said Oshun Cortez, a junior film and television major. “But the commute, the crowds and everything around it just makes me feel like it’s not worth it for me.”
Lev Handmaker, a wellness events coordinator at Columbia, said high ticket prices and crowded trains keep him from attending Lollapalooza.
“Every year it just keeps getting more and more expensive,” said Handmaker, a Columbia alum and staff member at the Columbia Fitness Center. “Leaving at 3 p.m., the Red Line is probably going to be terrible.”
Lollapalooza brings a surge of visitors to nearby lodging. At Hostelling International Chicago, The J. Ira & Nicki Harris Family Hostel near Columbia’s campus, every bed is typically booked within a month of tickets being on sale.
“We’re genuinely sold out during the festival,” said Kimberly Turner, assistant general manager at HI Chicago. Turner said the hostel brings in additional front desk and housekeeping staff to accommodate guests from across the U.S. and around the world.
Preparations for Lollapalooza extended well beyond the Loop, with official aftershow venues planning weeks, and more often than not, months in advance.
For Bobby Ramirez, talent buyer at Thalia Hall, conversations with festival organizers never really stop.
“It’s such a big moment for the city and the music scene that it kind of always feels like we’re having some type of conversation about it,” Ramirez said. “I’m already talking with the Lollapalooza team about ideas for next year’s festival, and this year’s festival hasn’t even played out yet.”
Hosting official aftershows means preparing for high-profile artists to perform in much smaller venues than they’re accustomed to.
“These are, most of the time, underplays for high-profile artists,” Ramirez said. “We really want to make sure we’re producing the same caliber of show they’re used to, even though we’re a smaller space.”
Thalia Hall adds security to handle larger crowds. Ramirez said the partnership helps fill what is typically a slower season for music venues, while introducing the venue to visitors from around the world.
“Summer can be a really tough season to keep the room programmed,” Ramirez said. “Being able to collaborate with the festival and have shows that bring in huge crowds is something we’re really appreciative of.”
Copy edited by Venus Tapang
