Let’s just call this photo what it is: mass denial #Lollapalooza pic.twitter.com/cTxj9ZVvcM

— March For Science (@MarchForScience) August 1, 2021

I get it, people want to go out again, but does it really have to be a festival like Lollapalooza with more than 100,000 visitors?

Imagine you broke your leg. After weeks of wearing a cast, the doctor finally takes it off—and then you decide to run a marathon that day. Literally, nobody would call that a good idea.

Allowing a festival like Lollapalooza while the Delta variant is spreading across the country must be one of the silliest decisions during the ongoing (yes, it’s ongoing) pandemic—and there have been quite a few questionable ones already.

It’s not that I am against slowly reopening. I am an advocate for giving vaccinated folks to get their freedoms back. But I am also worried that we ruin everything we achieved by staying at home, keeping our distance, and getting our shots—just because we can’t wait.

The organizers of “Lollapalooza” justified themselves by only allowing tested and vaccinated folks to attend the festival, but is that really enough?

Most of us heard of false-negative test results—what happens if one person had a false-negative test before entering the venue? Imagine how many friends one person could get sick on a day at a festival.

Why don’t we start with slightly smaller events? Artists like Miley Cyrus made enough money during the pandemic; how about supporting local artists who could not perform for almost two years?

How about supporting our local restaurants, bars, and concert venues that have suffered so much from the pandemic. Why does it always have to be a gigantic festival?

The risk of a mass event like Lollapalooza is not only taken at the venue itself. Most of these visitors somehow travelled to Chicago, and who made sure that nobody got infected or put in danger while getting there?

CTA red line Harrison station after day two of Lollapalooza in Chicago. #Lolla pic.twitter.com/4w2G8cVMPd

— Vashon Jordan Jr. (@vashon_photo) July 31, 2021

I am not against having fun or returning back to normal life, but this is not how it will work.

We need to have a mindful conversation on what is reasonable and what isn’t—a festival with 100,000 visitors during a pandemic is definitely not reasonable.