By James Pleasant
The Pitchfork Music Festival is teaming up with Everytown for Gun Safety and Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK) for the new Beats >Bullets initiative, designed to help reduce the rampant gun violence in Chicago.
“Chicago has always been our home, and we strive to make a positive impact on its culture, using the three days in the park as a way to honor and support the diverse communities that compose our vast city,” said Pitchfork president Chris Kaskie. “This year we further that commitment by partnering with Everytown and MASK to bring people together to celebrate art, peace, and love alongside a goal of furthering awareness of this very real issue.”
Pitchfork Music Festival
As part of the initiative, Pitchfork Music Festival is asking attendees and musicians performing at the festival to participate in the Wear Orange campaign to honor National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2. Anyone can get involved and show solidarity by wearing orange and posting on social media with the hashtag #Wear Orange.
Everytown for Gun Safety and Pitchfork Music Festival designed an online toolkit for other events and organizations in Chicago that would like to join Beats > Bullets and help spread gun violence awareness throughout the city.
“We’re lucky to live in a city with so many summer events that bring people together,” said Pitchfork Music Festival Director Mike Reed in a statement. “We hope Beats > Bullets can help all Chicagoans to engage with, support, and join the struggle against gun violence. Let’s join together and make this summer safe.”
More than 4,000 people in Chicago were killed or injured because of gun violence in 2016, and so far, this year, nearly 1,200 people in the city have met the same fate.
The Pitchfork Music Festival takes place on July 14-16 at Union Park in Chicago and will be headlined by LCD Soundsystem, Solange and A Tribe Called Quest. Other performers include Danny Brown, Vince Staples, Madlib, Angel Olsen, PJ Harvey, American Football, and many more.
For a full lineup and to buy tickets, click here. To learn more about Wear Orange and Beats > Bullets, click here. You can also click here to access tools to orange your photo, set save the date reminders, and sign up to receive more information.