By Maya Liquigan and Sofía Oyarzún

August 3, 2024

As the third day of Chicago’s Lollapalooza music festival continued on Saturday, Aug. 3, more attendees discovered the activities and events offered in between seeing their favorite artists throughout the four-day-event.

 The festival attracted the expected 400,000 viewers with an extensive lineup of musicians and bands, but this year’s 38 different activity booths let attendees experience Lollapalooza’s Beyond the Music, while waiting for headliners like The Killers, Future and Metro Boomin. 

Lollapalooza began as a touring music festival in 1991 and was known for having non-musical features like circus performers and art displays. This year, the activities are geared toward community building and self-care. 

Ulta Beauty had their first booth at Lollapalooza this year. The House of Joy tent is equipped to provide festival goers with complimentary makeup touch-ups and hair services such as tinsel and temporary hair color. Members of the rewards program also received a makeup bag with a customized design with merchandise and makeup products from Ulta’s sponsor about-face.

Sherilyn Mclean, marketing at Ulta Beauty, said that the booth came from The Joy Project. The project was branded to “make beauty joyful.” 

“What better way of bringing joy than to a festival,” Mclean said. “We’re also a Chicago-based organization so it makes sense to be right in our back door.” 

The House of Joy tent was lined with makeup and hair stations as clients faced the mirrors decorated with inspirational quotes and affirmations. 

Reva Haga, elite stylist on the Ulta Beauty design team, is one of the six people on the travel design team, bringing the House of Joy to education and marketing events around the country. As well as being featured at widely-known hair conventions such as America’s Beauty Show, Haga still noted the unique opportunity to have a spot at Lollapalooza for the first time. 

“I really like the energy here,” she said. “It’s much different than when you’re in conventions, [where] it’s very fast-paced, whereas this has been an event where we get to interact and see the fun side of things.”

Haga said the team was unsure of how a makeup booth at a music festival would work out, however, was pleasantly surprised with consistent long lines of attendees eager to enjoy the services that are often overlooked.

“A lot of times, people just think it’s retail makeup, so introducing people to the salon services and different activations that we have,” Haga said. “The mission is to be in spaces that we’re not typically in, so introducing the brand into the festival and the fun side of beauty.” 

Julie Kounnavong from Florida enjoyed the House of Joy while waiting for Skrillex and headliners Future and Metro Boomin’s sets later in the day. The different activity booths were a break from the heat and gave her a chance to rest her feet. 

“There’s a lot of free time in between sets so it’s something to do and it’s free,” she said. 

Just next to Ulta’s House of Joy was Bonus Tracks, organized by Eye Eaters, Chicago-based creative studio. The area involved a variety of artists sharing their work interactively with attendees, one of which being Ameya Okamoto’s astrological nail art. 

Drew Skees, manager of the booth and boyfriend of Okamoto, helped manage the lines consisting of a two-hour wait. Having her spot at the festival for the first time ever, Okamoto’s craft was occupied for hours at a time, doing entire sets of astrology-themed nails in three to five minutes, said Skees. 

“It’s huge, she’s really overwhelmed right now, but once the high of it comes down, she’s going to be over the moon from getting to meet everybody,” he said.

Chicago local Angelica Perez waited in line for the astrological nails by Okamoto before seeing TV Girl and Deftones. The two-hour wait gave her a chance to connect with people in line who were also excited to meet local creators. 

“I feel like it makes a community,” Perez said. “I’ve been talking to people in line and getting to know people. You also get to see small artists and creators share their talent. It goes hand-in-hand; Music is art so it’s a beautiful thing altogether.”

Bonus Tracks also had their Big Photo Booth where Jade Smith from North Carolina waited with her mother to get their portrait taken. Last year, Smith did not get a chance to experience any of the activities and made sure to attend more this time around. Smith was excited for the opportunity to take full advantage of the four-day passes they bought. 

“It’s a lot to stand in a crowd of people all day so [it’s] something to go chill out, relax and try something new,” Smith said. “We spend so much money to be here and people get overstimulated being in crowds. They can’t really enjoy it. So, it’s nice to have other things for you to do.” 

While Smith waited in line at Bonus Tracks, different artists and musicians performed throughout the park, including Destroy Boys, a punk rock band who had multiple mosh pits in the crowd at the IHG Hotels and Resorts stage.

Across the street from Destroy Boys, other activities offered an age-inclusive experience, such as Kidzapalooza, the dedicated area at the festival for children. Presented by Lifeway Kefir, Kidzapalooza had music performances and activities for kids throughout the four days. The family-friendly activity center was a way for attendees to include their children in the annual Lollapalooza music festival.

Michael Clarke and his two-year-old son attended Kidzapalooza for the past three days. Clarke has been to Lollapalooza previously, but was excited to share the experience with his son now that he is older. 

“A lot of times parents do want to come out but we don’t want to take the kids somewhere else. We want them to be engaged and be involved in these spaces. Having Kidzapalooza allows the kids to leave with a positive feeling about the event,” Clarke said. 

He enjoyed the variety of activities that helped keep his son entertained throughout the festival. The area had a lineup of drum performances, painting, temporary tattoos and other interactive activities.

Chris McShane from Chicago attended his 14th Lollapalooza with his wife, and fourth with his kids. As his wife and him dedicate the mornings to seeing the kids’ favorite performances at Kidzapalooza and their afternoons to their favorite artists, the whole day is spent together. Enjoying the festival at every age level offered, the whole family looked forward to seeing Wolves of Glendale at the BMI Stage, specifically the kids’ favorite song “Olivia.” The parents also looked forward to seeing Saturday’s headliners The Killers, Blink-182 and Skrillex in the evening.

“We’re just thankful that we’re able to keep coming to Lolla, and part of it is that we kind of bond as a family,” McShane said. “I want my kids to be open to everything, and with coming to Lolla, I feel like they learn so much about the world through new people and new music.”

El festival de música Lollapalooza continuó por su tercer día con una gran variedad de actividades adicionales para los asistentes. Las actividades incluyeron La Casa de la Alegría por Ulta, arte de uñas astrológicas y Kidzapalooza, la sección del festival dedicada a las actividades y actuaciones para niños. Los asistentes dijeron que las actividades les ofrecieron la oportunidad de descansar mientras esperaban por los artistas principales como The Killers, Future y Metro Boomin.