Chicago Businesses Illuminate Buildings Red For #RedAlertRESTART Campaign

Chicago joined many other cities in illuminating its buildings with red lights to raise awareness of the art industry's financial hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We Make Events, a collaboration of businesses, unions, employees in the live events industry and others, organized the effort to boost awareness, using hashtags #WeMakeEvents, #RedAlertRESTART and #ExtendPUA to garner attention on social media.

It banded together employees, artists, fans and other supporters on Tuesday (September 1), when buildings in cities across North America spotlighted landmarks in red from 9 p.m. to midnight. Individuals also tinted photos red to post on social media platforms.

The historic InterContinental Chicago Hotel, for example, donned a brightly-lit red top the evening of the initiative.

"We are proudly standing in support of the live-event industry and its businesses and people who are navigating an unthinkably difficult time right now," officials explained in an Instagram post Wednesday (September 2) showing the hotel's red glow. "From weddings to meetings, live events are vital to our hotel and to our economy, and it's imperative that we come together to extend relief funding and government aid to keep the industry alive."

Charles Ford owns the Vue Show Design Group and leads the Chicago group of the We Make Events efforts. He described to the Chicago Tribune the situation that many in his industry are facing is "very, very dire."

The Tribune photographed other locations that participated Tuesday evening, including the Vic Theatre, the Wrigley Square columns in Millennium Park, the Prudential Building and others.

The intent is to spread awareness and encourage the public to ask Congress to pass the RESTART Act to help local live events workers and businesses impacted by the pandemic.

The Windy City was far from alone in its endeavor, joining Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Nashville and others. More than 1,500 locations participated, according to We Make Events.

We Make Events pointed out that more than 12 million employees work in the live events industry, which kicks in $1 trillion to the U.S. economy each year.

However, 95% of live everts canceled this year because of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, and the vast majority of companies have cut staff and wages in response to it.

Photo: Getty Images