Hyde Park Summer Fest Canceled Due to Rising Security Costs

The Hyde Park Summer Fest, one of the most popular Southside Summer events, is canceled this year. Event organizers called off the event due to rising security costs.& The cancellation comes a year after the Summer Fest held its most significant event, featuring notable Hip-hop acts like 2 Chainz, Clipse, and Lil Kim and attracting thousands nationwide to the spacious Midway Plaisance.& According to event organizers, the cost of hosting an event of that scale became untenable. As the Summer Fest grew from what it used to be, a free celebration on 53rd Street, ticket prices were increased to help pay for security. “We realized that we would have to cut significantly or raise significantly to match the number in the budget line item, and at that point, we decided that it was not worth continuing it that way,” Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Wallace Goode told ABC 7 Chicago. The Southside recently lost another storied Hyde Park-centric event when the Silver Room Block Party had its final run last Summer. Last year, founder Eric Williams also cited increased costs and a resource shift as the reason he had to end the Silver Room Block Party.& “It is...