No Fireworks at Taste This Year

Undun

Call it a casualty of a city looking to maintain a budget, an acknowledgement of economic reality or a public safety measure. Either way, there will be no fireworks display at Taste of Chicago next month. Suddenly Taste became very interesting for us.

Chicago Park District spokesperson Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said the decision to cancel even the scaled down fireworks at three different beaches was necessary due to the cost.

“When the Chicago Park District inherited the Taste, we did so with an eye on cutting expenses and bringing the focus back to a family-friendly food festival,” Maxey-Faulkner said, noting that last year’s show cost $110,000, not including police expenses.

Maxey-Faulkner also pointed out that Navy Pier, run by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, will still have its fireworks shows on July 2 and 4, so the skyline won't be completely dark next month.

Last year's scaled-back fireworks did wonders in spreading the crowds that typically congested Taste in previous years along the lakefront. With the only fireworks coming from Navy Pier, will Taste be overrun again? Or will people stay at home this year?

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By Chuck Sudo in News on June 1, 2011 8:00 AM

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twocee

I saw an ABC 7 story tonight that said Navy Pier had to be closed early during last year's fireworks due to crowd control. There were 2 other locations to choose from last year. What happens this year with NP being the only show in town? Considering what happened at North Ave, this looks like a recipe for disaster.

A side note -- I lived in Kentucky, where they have two of the largest fireworks shows in the country every year (Thunder Over Louisville pre-Derby and Cincinnati's Riverfest over Labor Day weekend). Both of these events attract hundreds of thousands of people to the river, and both of these events are paid for by corporate sponsors. New York's 4th of July show is sponsored by Macy's. Why can't Chicago do the same thing? Get a group of corporate sponsors to cover the cost of the fireworks, promote the hell out of those sponsors, and give people a 4th of July show.