The Great Chicago Fire Festival Was A Total Bust
By Jon Graef in News on Oct 5, 2014 3:30PM
Apparently, nothing was actually able to catch fire. (Something of an issue for a flame-focused municipal event.)
After much fanfare, last night's Great Chicago Fire Festival appeared to neither have greatness nor fire nor a particularly festive atmosphere. [For the finale, anyway.]
At least there was a Chicago?
One spectator told the Trib they'd been to "better bonfires." Ouch. Reactions on social media ranged from the deadpan to the snarky:
Move along. Nothing to see here. Great #Chicagofirefest pic.twitter.com/wyfrlMcXXT
— Joanie Lum FOX 32 (@JoanieLum) October 5, 2014Wow RT @jlizak #greatchicagofirefestival is a bust. Only one of three houses is working. People leaving in droves and or mocking organizers.
— Frank Sennett (@SennettReport) October 5, 2014There was optimism about the fires going off:
"Ladies and gentlemen...we're having some electrical problems" Crowd showing resilience-still waiting for the flames! #ChicagoFireFest
— cshepherd (@cshepherd) October 5, 2014Optimism that, perhaps typical to Chicago, was short-lived.
How does Chicago managed to screw up fire? WE PUT FIRE ON THE FREAKING MAP. LITERALLY. #chicagofirefestival
— Matt Lindner (@mattlindner) October 5, 2014From there, the hits just kept on coming, and sardonic references to a certain Billy Joel classic were made.
Not a lot of fire at the great Chicago Fire festival... pic.twitter.com/Se4RzFpU9B
— Eric Reagan (@ericreagan) October 5, 2014If the #GreatChicagoFire had taken this long they would have been able to put it out.
— Mike Ewing (@miketewing) October 5, 2014Well, maybe the Chicago Blizzard of 1967 Festival will be better.
It was a promising idea! You gotta give them that, at least. Oh well. As the saying around here goes: better luck next year?
The chances of a 2nd annual Great Chicago Fire Festival are sounding pretty low based on reports from tonight's first.
— Kris Vire (@krisvire) October 5, 2014Then again, maybe not.