Lollapalooza attendees deal with wet weather again on day 3 amid flooding across Chicago area
A rain-soaked start to Lollapalooza gave way to drier conditions by the festival's end, but flooding continued to affect other parts of the Chicago area.
Festivalgoers navigated muddy conditions in Grant Park after showers on Saturday left large sections of the grounds covered in mud.
"It's terribly muddy but, you know, it's still really fun. You still get to hear the music, and you just got to risk your shoes for it," said Olivia Tranquilli, who was visiting from Springfield.
Tranquilli added, "It's like, would you rather hear your favorite artist or stay home?"
Karen Gomez, visiting from Kentucky, said some attendees adapted to the conditions.
"We just skipped the mud holes. We did a little two-step every time we seen one," Gomez said.
Heavier rain overnight forced festival organizers to delay Saturday's opening until 3 p.m. while crews worked to clear floodwater from the site.
Despite the delay, crowds gathered at the entrance wearing ponchos and carrying umbrellas as they waited to see performers, including headliner Olivia Dean.
"It's a lot of rain, but I really wanna see the artists that I came here for so it's worth it for me as long as I get to see them," attendee Dayanara Hernandez said.
Lollapalooza goer Peyton Reed said conditions near some stages were manageable.
"It wasn't that bad. I think for a while they did have some plastic on the ground right at the T-Mobile stage the closer you got, the less muddy was by the stage," Reed said.
Elsewhere, the wet weather created problems across the region.
A sinkhole appeared to open in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, while flooding affected communities in the western suburbs. In Bellwood, yards were inundated by floodwater.
The heavy rain also flooded the Oak Brook Kennel Club, where staff moved 50 dogs to safe, dry areas.
"We bought about 15 cages. We weren't expecting this. This has been something that's been on our bucket list to kind of have prepared. But this morning, with everything kind of coming down, our staff being able to do that emergency purchase was fantastic," said Beth Eggers, co-owner of the Oak Brook Kennel Club.
Co-owner Aly Solle said the business has faced multiple weather-related challenges in recent weeks.
"We actually had two major trees go down over the 4th of July weekend. Now we've been hit hard in July. July was a rough month for us. So we have been going through it over here," Solle said.
The rainfall also led to the cancellation of other events in the area, including Boricua Fest in Elgin and the Taste of Orland Park.
