Lollapalooza: A New Family Adventure

Lollapalooza. You're either someone who LOVES it or loathes it.  I happen to be someone who loves it. Who doesn't love music, fashion, sunshine and an all-day party? To this day it is one of my favorite pre-child festivities, but now that I have a child it's time to experience it a completely different way. So instead of trying to sneak in flasks of liquor, I've swapped it for sneaking in Goldfish packs and instead of spending my time between sweaty strangers up close to the stage, I've swapped it for the less crowded shaded outskirts. Overall though it's still an amazing time and one that I couldn't wait to experience with Liam for the first time!

While Matt and I share the love for movie theater experiences, he loathes events like these. He hates crowds and while he likes music, he doesn't feel the need to go to concerts. I on the other hand am the opposite. I love the concert experience and feel such an emotional connection to music that sometimes it's a little overwhelming. So when I told Matt that I wanted to take Liam to Lollapalooza I got this frantic questionable look like I was crazy, but when I explained to him all the amazing things that makes it super kid friendly and also told him that I was going for free all thanks to my friends at Sprint he had no reason to say no.

What makes the event so kid-friendly you ask? Well listen up because here's what makes Lollapalooza a family friendly event:

• Kids under 10 years old are FREE: Like that needs any more elaborating. 
• Kidzapalooza: This kid friendly area is literally a mini festival within the confines of Lollapalooza. It's equipped with its own kid stage (complete with their own lineup of bands) and lined with activities like drum circles, karaoke, graffiti painting, and so much more. You can literally spend all your time here in a day and enjoy it as much as the rest of the festival.

• Stroller friendly streets: Truth be told, I'd take walking three days in this festival over one day in Walt Disney World and seriously that's the truth. The entire Grant Park and all main roads are blocked off for pedestrians which offers wide roads for people to be pushing strollers. In addition, there's so many routes to get to the various stages that you literally are never walking within a sea of people.

• Plenty of shaded areas and grassy nulls: The thing I love about Grant Park is that it's lined with so many trees and since most people want to be hugging the stage it leaves a TON of room for you to tuck under a tree or lay a blanket on the outskirts of the stage listening to your favorite bands.

• Sponsored activities: The sponsored tents probably grabbed Liam's attention more than anything. We huddled in Sprint's Pavilion a few times because he was in awe of the free gifts and we needed some A/C, but thanks to Liam's desire to sit in the front seat of a Toyota in their tent, we were also able to catch an acoustic session with Of Monsters & Men. While he was in awe of the candy dispenser in the car's trunk, I was in awe of the performance.
• Event for all ages: Last but not least, while the easy assumption would be that this event is for late teens and folks in their early 20s, it honestly is an event for everyone for 3 months and up. We saw plenty of families with kids younger than Liam and there was also one group of senior citizens that were at Perry's tent raging to the latest DJ. 

When I told friends that I was taking Liam solo I had a lot of questionable looks, but quite honestly it's been one of my favorite adventures with him....and we've been on a lot of mom and son adventures. We danced at Perry's tent, discovered some new bands, noshed on some free snacks and partied til he dropped...literally. 

Thank you SO much to Sprint for sending me a ticket my favorite event. You made this new memory possible and helped us establish a brand new family tradition!!!