Riot Fest’s return to Douglass Park with a connected firm serving food set for a Chicago Park District vote

After reversing plans to hold this year’s event in the suburbs, Riot Fest faces a Chicago Park District board vote Wednesday on its application for a special use permit to hold the event at Douglass Park again later this month.

One of the food concessions at the fest this year will be operated by a company tied to recently appointed Park District Board commissioner Philip Jackson.

According to Riot Fest’s website, one of six “community food vendors” at the three-day festival will be Firehouse Catering. That’s a workforce development program of the Firehouse Community Arts Center, a nonprofit, anti-violence organization in North Lawndale that Jackson founded and serves as chief executive.

The center paid Jackson $90,000 in 2022, public records show.

Firehouse Catering was not listed among the vendors at Riot Fest for any of the last three years, according to event maps that highlight all the food and drink offerings.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed Jackson, who is a pastor, to the Park District board on March 20.

Jackson could not be reached for comment, but in a statement Tuesday to WBEZ, the board’s chief of staff, Katie Ellis, said, “Commissioner Jackson is traveling and will not be at the meeting to vote on Riot Fest.”

Ellis did not say whether Jackson had any role in arranging for Firehouse Catering to work at Riot Fest.

“Firehouse Catering was selected as one of many North Lawndale Community vendors as part of their effort to hire local vendors,” Ellis said.

Riot Fest organizers did not return messages seeking comment.

Activists on the West Side already vehemently oppose the expected influx of tens of thousands of music lovers into the neighborhood during the three-day festival, and community groups planned a news conference for Wednesday morning before the Park District board meeting.

Sara Heymann, a frequent critic of Riot Fest’s impact on the Douglass Park area, said she viewed Jackson’s ties to the festival vendor as part of a long-running effort by the organizers to gain influence with public officials.

“I think it’s really inappropriate,” Heymann said. “It just is a huge conflict of interest.”

According to public documents, Park District officials expect a maximum crowd of 40,000 people for Riot Fest, which will start on Sept. 20. The special event permit on the agenda for the Park District board meeting gives organizers eight days to set up the festival and four days to tear it down. The permit fee for this year’s event is $675,000.

But in an online statement, Riot Fest critics called on organizers to pay a fee of more than $1.2 million and to cover the “cost of transporting youth from the neighborhood to other public parks” for free programs during the festival.

Unete La Villita, a neighborhood group in Little Village, also urged the Park District to hold a public meeting. In Park District documents, officials note they held a “community engagement meeting” on March 11.

Griselda Hernandez, whose family owns the Teloloapan Grocery near Douglass Park, said she was happy when Riot Fest announced that it was planning to move to Bridgeview. But she expects a 60% fall-off in business at the store because festival organizers decided they would continue to hold Riot Fest at Douglass Park.

The crowds scare off her suburban clientele seeking authentic Mexican products, she said.

“Our sales really, really drop when Riot Fest is going on,” Hernandez said. “Because of the traffic, it’s hard for our customers to find parking or even get to the store.”

A Park District spokesperson said Riot Fest enjoys “strong support from the North Lawndale community,” adding that organizers had “met the community engagement permit requirements.”