The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 may seem like an odd thing to celebrate, but don’t worry, Redmoon is sure to do it oddly. Saturday night is the big night for the Great Chicago Fire Festival — an event that plans to take over the Chicago riverfront with a so-titled “Grand Spectacle,” a theatrical event done in cooperation with the city with the waterway as center stage.
Caldrons of fire will be lowered from bridges. Floating mock-ups of Victorian houses will be engulfed in flames. There will be talent stages, music, pyrotechnics, fireworks. If you’ve seen the work of Redmoon before, you know this kind of sight-and-sound spectacle is the theater company’s specialty, its main reason for being. And it produces them with a distinctive, quirky, wide-eyed-but-winking Redmoon flair.
The stated theme, harking back to the city-leveling events of 143 years ago, is of rebirth and resurgence in the wake of destruction. “What I’d like the event to do more than anything,” says Redmoon’s executive artistic director, Jim Lasko, “is to make Chicago look at itself through a more positive lens. We’ve gotten good at self-criticism — over things like the homicide rate, corruption. The Fire Festival asks us to consider the positives.”
WHAT IT IS
The Great Chicago Fire Festival is a public event celebrating the city-shaping energies that rebuilt post-Great Fire Chicago from the ashes. The monthslong festival actually began with 15 neighborhood events this summer, where images of everyday Chicagoans with their own resurgence stories were gathered. It culminates in the Grand Spectacle on Saturday, put on in cooperation with the city of Chicago and its Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
WHEN
Timeline of events for Oct. 4
8 a.m. to midnight: Westbound lanes of Upper Wacker Drive close between Stetson and Michigan avenues for public seating. River traffic for private boats and water taxis will also be halted at 6 p.m.; Lasko said the U.S. Coast Guard required as narrow a window as possible.
3 p.m to 9 p.m. Neighborhood Bazaar on Upper Wacker: The festival has partnered with the 15 Chicago neighborhoods of Albany Park, Austin, Avondale, Bronzeville, Englewood, Humboldt Park, Little Village, North Lawndale, Old Town, Pilsen, Roseland, South Chicago, South Shore, Uptown and Woodlawn. Each will have two kiosks selling food, crafts and goods from the community. Photos of citizens and community leaders, taken during the summer with Redmoon’s Mobile Photo Factory (designed by photographer Sandro Miller), will be displayed on a long clothesline stretched between the kiosks.
5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Performance stages: The lineup of live music, dance and poetry and spoken word also aspires to reflect Chicago’s diversity, Lasko says.
BMO Harris Bank Dance Stage in AMA Plaza, 330 N. Wabash Ave.: Hosted by Ang13 and AMS King of the Nerds. With Illinoiz, Deejay Earl, Fast$Mike, Invited 8 Breaking Battle, AllStyles Top 8 Battle and Chicago Footwork Exhibition with The Era. Plus performances by St. Therese Chinese School, Happiness Club and Keyani.
EnjoyIllinois.com Music and Spoken Word Stage in Pioneer Court, 401 N. Michigan Ave.: Hosted by Rachel Jackson. With Las BomPleneras, SHE, The O’My’s, J.W. Basilo and Jamila Woods.
8 p.m. “Grand Spectacle” begins on the Chicago River: Honoring first responders (Chicago firemen and their families) and the festival’s neighborhood partners.
8:10 p.m. Caldron drop: Jesse Spencer and Taylor Kinney, festival grand marshals and stars of television’s “Chicago Fire,” will ceremonially lower a caldron of fire from the Michigan Avenue bridge. Then other volunteers lower 14 more flaming caldrons from the State Street, Wabash Avenue and Michigan Avenue bridges.
8:15 p.m. Spreading the fire: Caldrons are met by 22 kayaks, each pulling fire buoys. The Chicago Children’s Choir performs aboard Shoreline Sightseeing boats.
8:30 p.m. Entrance of the steamships: There will be three vessels that look like fanciful steamships, built from pontoon boats and small craft.
8:40 p.m. Igniting the houses: The sculptural creations of 1870s-era Victorian homes will be lit on fire by the steamships, symbolizing the Great Chicago Fire. The houses, in typical Redmoon fashion, are not meant as literal houses, Lasko says. “They’re liberally stylized, but you’ll see the turrets and caps that were typical to Chicago from that time.”
8:50 p.m. Reveal: The flames are extinguished, revealing Chicago images that had been contained in the three houses and now rise up from the ashes.
9 p.m. Fireworks set to music.
9:10 p.m. Closing boat parade, including 75 prairie grass kayaks.
WHERE
Chicago River from State Street to Columbus Drive. Spectator stands will be set up at Upper Wacker and Michigan Avenue. Organizers say they expect a crowd of at least 20,000 people; that’s roughly the number of people who show up to watch the dyeing of the river for St. Patrick’s Day. Handicapped-accessible seating will be available at multiple points along the river. Picnic blankets and small folding chairs are permitted in the public places.
Top 5 places to watch:
Spectator stands.
The Chicago Riverwalk, along the south side of the river.
Upper Wacker Drive, as long as you can get a front- or second-row vantage point.
Sidewalks of the three bridges, space permitting. The lower sidewalk of the Michigan Avenue bridge will be closed.
Public riverfront areas on the north side of the river, including Pioneer Court and the AMA Plaza.
HOW MUCH
Free; more information at chicagofirefestival.com
WHAT ELSE TO KNOW
This is a rain-or-shine event and will only shut down for severe weather.
Public transportation is strongly suggested. The nearest CTA Pink, Red, Orange, Green and Brown lines station is State and Lake; for the Blue Line, use Clark and Lake.
Volunteers for the Great Chicago Fire Festival are welcome up through Saturday; email Redmoon at volunteer@redmoon.org.
Safety first. For those who may be wondering, is it wise to set a bunch of large sculptures on fire in the middle of Chicago’s landmark river? Redmoon has an answer. Each house structure has a safety system that will extinguish the flames if needed, Lasko says, much like the sprinkler system in a public building. And everything flammable is held together by chicken wire, to ensure no flaming embers float away and no pollution ends up in the river.
The budget for the Great Chicago Fire Festival is approximately $2 million, Lasko says, about two-thirds of that for the “Grand Spectacle.”
The real Great Chicago Fire started on the night of Oct. 8 and burned until early on Oct. 10, 1871. Stories of a cow and a lantern may have been invented, but the fire did start in or near a small barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O’Leary, according to the Chicago Historical Society, in an alley behind 13 DeKoven St. in the West Loop area. It burned roughly 3.3 square miles and took about 300 lives.
Afterburn is the festival after-party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Redmoon Theater, 2120 S. Jefferson St. in Pilsen. Featuring a DJ set by Goldroom, DJ Fire and the Redmoon Champagne Chandelier. Put on by The Gathering Group. Tickets are $100 and up at thegatheringgroup.com/afterburn
