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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

2015 Great Chicago Fire Festival redeems itself

The Great Chicago Fire Festival closes with a fireworks display Saturday. (Garrett Duncan / The DePaulia)
The Great Chicago Fire Festival closes with a fireworks display Saturday. (Garrett Duncan / The DePaulia)

A man in a black and white polka-dot suit waved two torches in each hand, thrusting them into the air as a crowd of thousands chanted “burn it down, burn it down.” He stood in front of a particular one-room wooden house, made of purple, blue and grey circles with crescents sliced into the surface.

The torch-bearer jumped up onto the steps, looked at the crowd with a taunting expression, and tossed the torches into a window. The house swept up into flames, its bright tongues dancing high into the black sky.

This was the main attraction at the Great Chicago Fire Festival. On the sandy dunes of the Northerly Island and hosted by the theatrical company Redmoon, the festival showcased a number of art, music and dance performances as the sun dipped beneath the skyline, and when night came, performed a cultish burning of a ceremonial house and a tremendous firework show that finished the evening.

But the point of the show, according to Redmoon, was not just to dazzle Chicagoans; through all of the evening’s events, the festival sought to unite Chicago’s neighborhoods and to celebrate the city’s resurgence following the destructive fire of 1871.

“It was spectacular,” Kelly Askam, a DePaul alum who lives in West Rogers Park said. “It’s a celebration of life and people and community.”

Last year, Redmoon hosted the same festival at the mouth of the Chicago River. They built a similar house on the water, but due to cold and wet weather, among other undetermined reasons, the construction failed to burn completely. This year’s lavish show—last year’s costed $2 million—could be seen as an attempt to redeem the festival’s failure in 2014.

“I think the neighborhood part didn’t work out (last year). It missed the point because it was about the fire, not the neighborhoods,” Holly Swiers, who teaches at Lake Forest College and lives in North Central, said.

“I think coming out to the Northerly Island made it more festive,” Swiers said. “I like that there is more of a focus on the dancers and the stages.”

Up until the evening’s finale began, performers showcased their neighborhood culture and talent on a series of stages. In traditional Mexican fashion, women in bright yellow and red dresses danced with black-clad men wearing sombreros. They hopped together, the men with their hands clasped behind their backs and the women bracing theirs on hips.

A man wearing nothing but underwear grappled and posed on a hoop that was suspended high in the air by a crane, and an old-fashioned record player produced ambient music. The voices of a nearby Spoken Word show could be heard, producing a meshed sound that spoke to the festival’s message of unique culture and a unified city.

One of the main attractions of the festival was the ceremonial burning of Chicago, celebrating the rebirth of the city after the Great Chicago Fire. (Garrett Duncan / The DePaulia)
One of the main attractions of the festival was the ceremonial burning of Chicago, celebrating the rebirth of the city after the Great Chicago Fire. (Garrett Duncan / The DePaulia)

Snapping fingers on a suspended stage that resembled a boxing ring, a men’s gospel quartet sang with attitude. Nearby, a Puerto Rican group played zesty Caribbean music: some pounding drums, while others sang in Spanish. Occasionally a singer would step out in front and dance, locking eyes with a drummer to sync his or her steps with the beat.

Once the blood-red sun dipped down behind the skyline, the mood of the festival changed. Musicians left the stage, and police officers spread out to clear people off of paved roads.

The master of ceremonies, a Baptist reverend wearing a pin stripe suit, introduced a group of people from the “First Nation,” who explained that the word “Chicago” is based on a word from their own language.

Suddenly, along one of the pathways, dark shapes carrying approximately 20-foot torches marched through the crowd and onto the stage, where the “First Nation” chanted and beat drums.

The music died down and was replaced by the sound of drums: specifically, the Chicago Bull’s drum line. As the clean column marched to the stage, a truck rolled out, pulling a stage that held a windmill-like contraption that spun percussion instruments, which the drummers hit as they went by. Protruding from the drums stood a long pipe that blasted fire into the air.

As the ceremonial house was lit and burned, the crowd whooped and hollered in excitement.

“Burn baby burn,” someone in the dark said.

As the fire burned down and firemen controlled its brooding flames, screens were set up that displayed faces of Chicagoans, accompanied by a quote.

“I celebrate having a home,” one said. “I overcame the devil,” said another.

Slow, emotional music guided the flames down, and in front of it volunteers set up tall boards that resembled the buildings of the Resilience Skyline. The reverend explained that this symbolized the will of Chicagoans to overcome not only the fire, but of everyday struggles today.

Bobby Huggins, who manned one of the spotlights and lives in Logan Square, said he was very pleased with how the festival went.

“The energy was really cool,” he said. “It was great to have so many people here.”

“You can’t see something like this for free very often,” Askam said as he glanced at the now-dark stage.

Chicagoans walked in good spirits out of festival field. They filed past the nearby docks, and shimmering across the water, stood the ever-lasting Chicago skyline.

Photos by Garrett Duncan / The DePaulia

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  • E

    ejhickeySep 28, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    The City of Chicago is in the middle of a financial crisis. At least $200,000 of Chicago tax dollars helped pay for this event and perhaps more . the City has no business using tax dollars for events like this when it can’t pay for teachers’ pensions and schools are in danger of closing. I know the amount seem small but in times like these every dollar counts. the city should cancel future events like this which are nothing but bread and circuses meant to divert public attention from the fact that the City can’t afford to deliver essential public services to all its residents, especially those in need.

  • B

    ben david garzaSep 27, 2015 at 9:28 pm

    Hi Jackson. Nice article. I am an actor/producer. We were part of the festival. We were in costume reciting monologues from our up coming play; Bloody Haymarket. It’s an original theatrical production we will be presenting in the Spring.

    I was so hoping you would mention my group in you article.

    Please check out our website; http://www.bloodyhaymarket.com. If this piques your interested, please feel free to contact us.

    be well

    Ben

  • S

    Sandra StoneSep 27, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    How is this redemption? Mayor Emanuel would be wise not to strut on the graves of the revered dead to jubilate about Chicago “grit” while he implements the privatization of public goods and services in today’s Chicago that require it. It’s a pretense that cannot end well.