Lollapalooza low? Arrests decrease for fifth year in a row at fest

Only nine people were arrested at Lollapalooza this past week, the fewest reported at the music festival in at least seven years.

It marks a trend of decreasing arrests since the highs of 2019, according to city data.

In 2023, 14 people were arrested and 14 citations or tickets were issued, according to city data. Arrest numbers have been steadily decreasing since 2019, when there were 31 arrests reported.

This year, the festival, which runs from Thursday to Sunday, saw the highest number of arrests on Friday, when six people were arrested.

Throughout the four-day event, there were 63 ambulance transports, up slightly from the previous year when there were 55, according to city data.

Still, the past two years have been a dramatic decrease from 2019, when there were 116 ambulance transports. The festival was not held in 2020, because of COVID-19. Arrest data was only immediately available since 2018, when 12 people were arrested.

For this year, OEMC did not provide details on the arrests, citations or transports.