Occupy Festival Organizers Postpone Event

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 27, 2012 4:40PM

Organizers planning a music festival to benefit Occupy Chicago have postponed the two day fest to a yet to be determined date.

Initially, the Occupy Festival was set to be May 12-13 in Union Park, with a ticket price of $55 which raised plenty of criticism as cost prohibitive, along with other concerns over exactly where the 50 percent of proceeds not being donated to Occupy Chicago would go, and whether or not organizers were trying to “brand” the festival by using Occupy rhetoric.

According to a press release, after feedback from within Occupy Chicago, organizers will make some major changes to “ensure the event is done in a way that is consistent with the principles of the movement.”

According to the release, 100 percent of the proceeds will now be donated to the Occupy movement, the name will most likely change from “Occupy Festival,” and ticket prices will drop significantly. Festival organizers hope to move the event to an indoor venue to assist with the cost reduction.

Event organizer Graham Czach said:

“We are not trying to brand Occupy or profiteer, we are trying to raise money for the movement and keep its momentum going in a good direction with messages through music and art. We are not trying to speak on behalf of the movement, we’re just looking to provide a different platform for people to speak out and utilize their creativity in support of a movement they believe in.”