A security guard manages traffic into the Sunnyside cannabis dispensary in River North on Aug. 2, 2023.
Launched in 1991, Lollapalooza made Chicago its permanent home in 2005, becoming a major tourism draw for the city, attracting hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers and infusing millions into the local economy. Canceled in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lollapalooza returned in 2021 with a new twist — recreational marijuana wasSince then, cannabis companies have been leveraging the event with special promotions, turning Lollapalooza into a sales bonanza for nearby dispensaries.
The Verilife dispensary on West Superior Street in River North doubled its regular store traffic during Lollapalooza last year, boosted by both a parked bus serving as a pop-up smoking lounge andto the festival, according to company spokeswoman Melissa Buckley. The smoking bus will be back this summer, but the “cannabus” shuttle service will not.
Last year, Verilife also provided two shuttle buses running every 20 minutes between Grant Park and its store, transporting about 700 customers to the festival. But traffic rendered them less effective than planned, with many customers finding it quicker to walk the 1.5 miles to Lollapalooza, Buckley said.