Mayor Daley’s plan to privatize the Taste of Chicago has fallen flat.
After declaring that Chicago’s premier lakefront festival would “always be free,” Daley on Tuesday rejected a lone bidder’s revised proposal to charge a $10 admission fee to the Taste.
Celebrate Chicago LLC initially proposed a $20 entrance fee with $10 rebated to patrons in the form of food and beverage tickets. The proposed fee was cut in half to appease Daley, but it was not enough.
- Despite $7 million in losses over the last three years, the city now plans to keep the Taste and six other lakefront festivals in-house.
Gee, giant piles of cash flowing through unmonitored counting rooms - why would the city even think of privatizing something like that? If it wasn't making some connected individuals some serious coin, it wouldn't exist in Chicago.