Chicagoist: The Friday Flashback: Chicagofest

BeeRockafeller

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:48:44 -0600

Thanks for posting Chicagoist! Some of my earliest memories are being with my mom, dad, and big bro at ChicagoFest. I remember being real close to the stage, and I could be wrong but I want to say it was Genesis playing, and I was fascinated by how different music sounded *and felt* in person. I think it was my first live show, must've been no older then 4 or 5. I remember feeling the kick in my gut, and thought it was so cool. Yeah.

kdjk5467

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:15:44 -0600

spook: Thanks for the info. Now I know.

Spook

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:09:04 -0600

Nope, Blacks working at Chicago Fest had nothing to do with the protests. It was about then Mayor Byrne's( who was elected by the Black vote) refusal to hire Black folks to the board of the Chicago Housing Authority or Chicago Public Schools. Actually people made the counter argument that the boycott would hurt blacks who worked at the fest,( also another sore spot with the protestors),because Byrne would only hire Blacks for the Fest, but not for real jobs with the city. Steve Wonder was scheduled to perform, but pulled out to honor the boycott. This was considered the beginnings of the Harold Washington Movement/ Campaign because for the first time Black folks actually worked together in Chicago for Justice. Any one interesting in reading about it, check out the Book “A Fire on the Prairie: Chicagos Harold Washington and the Politics of Race. Of course that was when Jesse Jackson actually was a real leader instead of a poverty pimping sell out of the worst kind

Albanyparkour

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:14:45 -0600

A little anecdote: My parents were Irish immigrants, both from pretty damn RURAL Ireland, not even the metropolis like Dublin. They'd been married for a few years without spawning yours truly and loved to see live music. So they went to Chicagofest the year that Blondie was playing. Apparently, my poor parents were shocked to their socks by Debbie Harry and company. Hard to imagine Blondie shocking anyone. Growing up, any time a Blondie song would come on the car radio my mother would shake her head and mutter something about "how can such a beautiful woman waster her voice singing such nonsense?" When my parent's passed I found their record collection. Lo and behold, in my father's stack or wax...Blondie.

mepps

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:06:29 -0600

kd; Chicagofest or the Taste??

kdjk5467

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:59:45 -0600

Does anyone else remember the year some folks called it Honky Fest? Boycotts were encouraged by the PUSH crowd because not enough African Americans were in the crews hired for the event

Chuck Sudo

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:26:19 -0600

You're absolutely right, lundah. Once the servers refresh, note that I struck the sentence stating otherwise.

lundah

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:18:16 -0600

"The success of Chiagofest led Milwaukee to adopt the model for their annual Summerfest." Sorry, not quite. Summerfest started in 1968, long before Chicagofest was even thought of. If anything, Taste of Chicago is a ripoff of the Summerfest idea.