#Lyrical lemonade festival install#

Just like the greater restaurant industry as a whole, the concert world has been left to figure out COVID-19 mitigations without much guidance from the government. The bar also has a concert venue with customers standing shoulder to shoulder at crowded shows. Mendicino hopes future festival goers understand the environment staff is dealing with.Ĭobra Lounge recently required proof of vaccinations for patrons.

Some have turned to blame Summer Smash’s clientele, described on the younger side with little experience attending shows - they had unrealistic expectations of event staff, like a restaurant guest who doesn’t realize the kitchen is slammed and short staffed. Maybe you’re a little bit more concerned about the car now while driving.” “And then one out of 50 people lose their tires at the same time and it’s a bloody mess. “You could be driving the same car as 50 other people, and you’re confident in that car and you love that car,” he says. He’s also reluctant to say Summer Smash has made him and his staff that much more aware of possible festival challenges. There’s some overlap, as he’s worked with them at other events. Still, they contend that the three-day festival was a success with more than 90,000 attendees.Ī post shared by Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash is hesitant to talk about the event because he didn’t attend, but he did hear accounts from people who were there. Instead of relying on one vendor, festivals are resorting to patchwork, calling multiple companies with the hope they can somehow piece together the personnel needed for their event.įestival organizers have not publicly commented on the recordings or allegations from bar staff, but acknowledged that “barricade infrastructure” had been “compromised” in an “unfortunate incident” in a statement to Block Club.

#Lyrical lemonade festival install#

“Really all sorts of labor are quite difficult to come by at this point,” he says.įor instance, most tent companies normally have staff to install the coverings. He says it’s about five times as challenging to find labor and equipment compared to past years. Part of his job is also to ensure drink tents run smoothly at events like Riot Fest and Ruido Fest. Hiring security staff, or staff from any profession, has been a challenge on the festival circuit says Louie Mendicino, manager at Cobra Lounge. Plan on allowing the crowd to storm more bar tents today? /A9IHqoIq8w- nala’s mom August 22, 2021

“Plan on allowing the crowd to storm more bar tents today?” one queries. Other local industry workers have weighed in on social media, many angered by a perceived disregard for the staff’s safety. She told reporters that she could see a lack of security from the first day, and ultimately feels she and her team were set up for failure. The festival’s bars were staffed by independent contractors, including many industry veterans like Liz Melvin. Due to the lack of security, the bar staff does not feel safe working this event & will not be there today.” #SummerSmash /DCe8617i4Z- ellie August 22, 2021Īnother bar staff member on Twitter explained why there would be no beer sales on Sunday at the festival: “Yesterday, a group of kids rushed a beer tent (not mine) & stole product & money from the registers. literally 40 bartenders against 300+ people coming in at once VIOLENTLY. is this how you run your festival? no security? nobody stopped the show. “Literally 40 bartenders against 300+ people coming in at once VIOLENTLY.” Pettit also told Block Club that bartenders tried to get out through an emergency exit, but found it was “wired shut.”

“Nobody stopped the show,” tweets Ellie Pettit, a bartender who worked the festival on Saturday night. On Saturday night, however, the raucous crowd spiraled out of control: video posted to social media shows a large group of attendees tearing down barriers around the bar and lunging at staff who tried to keep them out. This year’s three-day event was disorganized throughout, bar staff and ticket holders told Block Club Chicago: Security was sparse, water stations few and far between. Summer Smash, founded in 2013 by music video director Cole Bennett to highlight local rappers, kicked off Friday, August 20. For some, the incident encapsulates the challenges facing hospitality workers as the industry’s labor shortage continues and large public events resume. Chicago bartenders walked off the job last weekend at the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park after the scene dissolved into “ utter chaos” as attendees stormed a bar tent.