New festival next year will include Chicago River spectacle

(Above) A rendering of a procession of illuminated fiberglass sculptures floating along the Chicago River past Trump International Hotel & Tower. (Click on image to view larger version.)

30-Mar-13 – A group of Chicago artists will get $100,000 from the city to develop a new festival for next year that will include a procession of illuminated fiberglass sculptures floating along the Chicago River.

The Great Chicago Fire Festival will happen in October 2014, according to a news release from the mayor’s office on Friday. The festival will feature live music, acrobatics, and “fantastical machines.”

The city will work with Redmoon, a non-profit organization in Chicago whose mission, according to its Facebook page, “is to create artistic events that disrupt everyday life and provide opportunities for public engagement, community building, and recognition of the possibility for change.”

City officials will see how the first festival goes before declaring it an annual tradition.