DisFest at Chicago Live! 2024 to Uplift Guests and Performers with Disabilities
NEA grant establishes collaboration between Midwest’s largest free performing arts festival and ReinventAbility
CHICAGO—Navy Pier today announced plans to present DisFest as part of Chicago Live! 2024 and make this edition its most accessible festival to-date. The free performing arts festival, slated for Sept. 21-22, will partner with the ReinventAbility DisFest Committee to provide a range of complimentary services for guests with disabilities, including state-of-the-art sound shirts that translate music into physical sensations, an accessible shuttle, a low-sensory respite space, and ASL interpretation on multiple stages. The two-day, Chicago-centric festival has also opened additional spots in its lineup to standout acts inclusive of performers with disabilities. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts
“At its core, Chicago Live! is all about accessibility, in every sense of the word,” said Erika Taylor, Navy Pier’s Vice President of Arts, Culture & Engagement. “We are committed to ensuring every audience member sees themselves reflected and celebrated in the programming we present.”
“It’s so exciting to see the spirit of DisFest reflected into a festival of this magnitude,” said Ladonna Freidheim, Founder and Executive Director of ReinventAbility. “DisFest is a celebration of lives-well-lived with disability, introducing the public to an unsung yet thriving body of work.”
“I’m really hoping that people come away going, ‘Oh my God, that was fantastic.’ Disabled people can do whatever they want to and make beautiful art. It’s that real-life, human connection, you know?” said Tekki Lomnicki, Founder and Artistic Director, Tellin’ Tales Theater.
Among the inclusive performing groups scheduled to appear as part of DisFest at this year’s Chicago Live! are:
Calculated Discomfort – 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22 (Lake Stage, Polk Bros Park)
This electro-acoustic band is lead by Tommy Carroll, a totally blind, Chicago-based drummer and composer seeking to create a soundtrack to a more inclusive world. Using the rhythms of modern dance music as a template for group improvisation, Carroll has performed and been influenced by an eclectic range of genres, from rock to jazz, bluegrass to soul.
Tellin’ Tales Theatre – 5 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22 (Lake Stage, Polk Bros Park)
Tellin’ Tales Theatre is a 25-year-old company dedicated to shattering the barriers between the disabled and non-disabled worlds through the power of personal story. The ensemble’s Founder and Artistic Director, Tekki Lomnicki, is a recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Artists Fellowship in New Performance Forms and 2014 Dan Van Hecke Award for outstanding leadership and service to the disability community.
Momenta Dance Company – 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22 (East End Stage)
A multi-year participant in Chicago Live!, Momenta cultivates and presents contemporary dance repertory that strives to educate, innovate, and amplify the artistry of dancers with and without disabilities. Based in Oak Park, the company regularly performs throughout the greater Chicago area, as well as nationally and internationally.
In consultation with award-winning leaders of the Disability Arts community serving on the ReinventAbility DisFest Committee, DisFest at Chicago Live! 2024 will expand its free resources available to guests with disabilities to include:
- SoundShirtTM technology on the Lake Stage in Polk Bros Park – Micro-actuators embedded in the fabric of the shirt allow audience members who are deaf or hard of hearing to physically experience each musical passage with different instruments corresponding to different locations across the garment.
- ASL interpreters at the Peoples Gas Wave Wall Stage, East End Plaza Stage, and the Chicago Sound Stage in the Navy Pier Beer Garden.
- CART captioning at the Lake Stage.
- Live audio description of all East End Plaza Stage performances via Instagram @chicagoliveeaststage.
- Accessibility shuttle services from the West to East ends of the Pier and Entrance 1 near the DisFest Welcome Station for guests with mobility impairments.
- Community Engagement programs featuring inclusive workshops led by ReinventAbility, Tango21, Desueño Dance, A.B.L.E., and Kids Spectrum Dance, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, and 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22, at the West Stage along the Pier’s South Dock.
- DisFest Welcome Station where guests with disabilities can learn about resources available at Chicago Live! and throughout the community, participate in Draw the Music and Family Storytime programs, and access a low-sensory space for mid-event respites, located inside Door 5, near Kilwin’s and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
This year’s fourth-annual Chicago Live! festival will welcome more than 100 Chicago-centric artists and performing groups in back-to-back performances across five Navy Pier stages. Headlined by Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy, featured artists will range from Chicago’s world-class stalwarts, including The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Second City, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago Philharmonic, Black Ensemble Theater, and the perennially popular Blue Man Group, to pop culture icons like Ginger Minj from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Tony-nominated Felicia Fields, The Voice’s Oliv Blu, and many exciting up-and-comers. More than 50,000 Chicago-area residents and out-of-town guests are expected to take in free Chicago Live! performances over the course of the two-day festival.
Chicago Live! was launched in 2021, following the pandemic, to reconnect audiences with Chicago’s performing arts community after a devastating 18-month closure that left many in the industry in limbo. Exclusively showcasing Chicago-based artists, the festival has grown from 43 performing companies in its inaugural year to 111 groups and individual artists on-deck to appear at this September’s event.
DisFest was launched in 2023 by ReinventAbility, the organization that engages and entertains while contributing to a more universally accessible future, as a free celebration of accomplished artists and performers with disabilities to promote access and inclusion. Disfest is Innovative, Accessible, Free & Fun.
To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
Note: All artists, times, and dates are subject to change.
Click here for Chicago Live! photos from 2023 performances.
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About Navy Pier
Located on Lake Michigan, Navy Pier is the top nonprofit tourism destination in the Midwest, stretching more than six city blocks and typically welcoming nearly 9 million annual guests. Originally opened in 1916 as a shipping and recreation facility, this Chicago landmark showcases more than 50 acres of parks, restaurants, attractions, retail shops, sightseeing and dining cruise boats, exposition facilities and more.
The Pier celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016 with the unveiling of the iconic Centennial Wheel, Polk Bros Park, Family Pavilion and Peoples Energy Welcome Pavilion. In 2021, Navy Pier continued to usher in its second century with ongoing Pier-wide redevelopment efforts—including Sable, a 223-room Hilton hotel, new restaurants and partnerships, and thrilling additions to Pier Park. The Pier is also proud to continue providing free, year-round arts and cultural programming designed to inspire, educate and connect communities across the city and globe. Click here to donate to Navy Pier, a mission-driven 501(c)(3) organization, in support of the organization’s post-pandemic revival and free public programming. For more information, visit www.navypier.org.