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Chicago officials report fewer ambulance trips, arrests at bigger Lollapalooza

The Office of Emergency Management and Communications reported 55 patients were transported compared to 116 in 2019

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Fans watch and sing along as Billie Eilish performs at Lollapalooza in Chicago’s Grant Park on Aug. 3, 2023.

Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS

By Jake Sheridan
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — As tens of thousands of music fans poured into Grant Park to party at Lollapalooza, the music festival itself saw fewer arrests and ambulance transports than in recent years, according to city officials.

The drop in ambulance transports and arrests came as the festival expanded its daily capacity from 100,000 attendees to 115,000 for the first time.

Throughout the four-day festival, 14 people were arrested, 14 were given citations and 55 were transported by ambulance, according to the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

The arrest and ambulance totals are the festival’s lowest since at least 2019, when 31 people were arrested and 116 were transported via ambulance. At the same time, citations have slightly risen. In 2019, 12 citations were given, according to the OEMC.

Nearly all of the festival’s arrests were made on Thursday and Friday, when artists like Karol G, Diplo, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, The 1975 and Knocked Loose headlined stages. Only one person was arrested Saturday and Sunday. As downpours hit Chicago, massive crowds continue to show up for the festival.

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