Chicago (AFP)

In the midst of the rise of Covid-19 cases in the United States, the famous Lollapalooza music festival still opened its doors Thursday in Chicago, in an atmosphere shared between the pleasure of finding concerts and fears of seeing contaminations explode. .

"I am happy to go to my first concert in two years".

As with Janae Dabney, a 24-year-old librarian who works in Chicago, impatience outweighs fear of the virus.

But faced with the Delta variant, which is causing a resurgence of positive cases across the country, Janae is not completely reassured.

"I'm vaccinated, so personally I'm not worried, but I hope people take things seriously so that we can have fun," she told AFP, adding that she plans to wear a mask in the midst of crowds.

After a 2020 edition canceled due to a pandemic, Lollapalooza welcomes dozens of artists until Sunday, including rapper Megan Thee Stallion or the rockers of Foo Fighters.

On the bill of this festival with varied influences, which normally attracts some 100,000 spectators per day, also appear Miley Cyrus, the Black Pumas or Post Malone.

The quality of the set does not prevent Caroline Reed, 23, from being a little worried.

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"It's hard not to be nervous, but I don't intend to kiss a lot of people," she wants to reassure herself, armed with her vaccination certificate and her mask.

- "Madness" -

The organizers assure that proof of vaccination or a negative test of less than 72 hours is required to enter the enclosure, and put forward the recommendation to wear a mask if one is not vaccinated.

But the vagueness remains on the strict application of its rules.

A few days ago, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was considering reinstating mandatory mask wear if cases continued to rise, but she kept the festival going.

The third-largest city in the United States has seen its rate of positive cases increase by 76% compared to last week.

"It (the festival) takes place outdoors. We have had several big events since June without major problems," she said.

Lollapalooza is a godsend for local restaurants, hotels and clubs.

But other managers, who are not affiliated with the event, fear an explosion of cases.

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“Anything that can cause more cases of Covid worries us,” says Tim Tuten, owner of rock club The Hideout.

His establishment recently reopened with outdoor concerts, and only for vaccinated clients.

Renowned music critic Jim DeRogatis, who teaches at Columbia College in Chicago, bluntly called the festival "madness."

"I'm afraid this will all end with further closures," he said, worrying "about the small concert halls that have suffered from being in the dark for 18 months and still have the chance to be alive ".

© 2021 AFP