Looptopia was a dusk-to-dawn cultural event that was held in 2007 and 2008 in the city of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Billed as "Chicago's White Night", Looptopia was modeled after

Nuit Blanche Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of t ...

held annually in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. It premiered on the evening of May 11 through the morning May 12, 2007 in Chicago's central business district, the Loop. A wide range of entertainment was offered in public spaces, while many

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museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

s, restaurants, parks and

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attractions in the loop remained open throughout the night or offered extended hours. It was the first event of its type held in Chicago or the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The 2007 event drew an estimated 200,000 attendees, twice the number that organizers expected, which led to logistical problems like lack of sanitation facilities.

Looptopia 2007 events

Many events were held at Looptopia 2007.

Dance party

A dance party was held in the Sullivan dock of the former

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store. The dance party was produced by MF Chicago, a local creative collaborative made up of

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

s, DJs, VJs, and

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

ians, and featured

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

, lighting and video projection effects. In addition to a multimedia show, the entrance to the dance party featured a

neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypt ...

and

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is clas ...

installation by Chicago-based installation artist Josh Graff. DJs for the event were Chicago Legends Paul Johnson Adonis Childs Geoff bring the roof down Chicago style

State Street and Daley Plaza

Theatre event engineering company ''

Redmoon Theater Redmoon Theater was a Chicago based not-for-profit theatrical company under the direction of Jim Lasko and Frank Maugeri that specialized in site-specific productions emphasizing visual spectacle. Productions were often out of doors, sometimes t ...

'' had sight installations all along State Street that culminated in a roving performance with a final show in Daley Plaza that featured the capture of human-sized rat that was locked in a rat wheel that set off pyrotechnics before an audience estimated to number 15,000. Musical ensemble '' Mucca Pazza'' performed at Looptopia on the Daley Plaza stage.

Oscar shorts

In the

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, short films were screened throughout the night. Up first were short films from the students of the School of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

. These were followed by

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

nominated and winning shorts in both animation and live action.

Sci-Fi B-Movie marathon

At the

Chicago Cultural Center The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building operated by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events that houses the city's official reception venue where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed presid ...

from 2 AM - 6 AM, classic sci-fi films were screened. Those shown included ''

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers ''Earth vs. the Flying Saucers'' (a.k.a. ''Invasion of the Flying Saucers'' and ''Flying Saucers from Outer Space'') is a 1956 American science fiction film from Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Fred F. Sears, ...

'', ''

It Came from Outer Space ''It Came from Outer Space'' is a 1953 American science fiction horror film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Richard Carlson and Barbar ...

'', and '' Invasion of the Body Snatchers''.

Miss Looptopia

Nine contestants competed in this mock drag beauty pageant held at the Hard Rock Hotel. Produced by a local LGBT marketing firm, the show was EmCee'd by Andrew Eninger of the gay comedy troupe GayCo Productions. There were comedy, musical and drag performance by GayCo members, local drag queens and other local performers. The announcement of the winner was carried live on ABC/Channel 7 "190 North" by host Janet Davies. The event reached its 350-person capacity before its start time of 6:00 PM.

Public reaction

The inaugural Looptopia event exceeded attendance estimates and was generally well received by participants. Argo Tea reported their "best day ever" in terms of sales. The Chicago Cultural Center (on Washington Street) hosted a record number of guests (an estimated 10,000–12,000 people). Pizano's Pizza recorded a 50% increase in business. Local newspapers such as the ''

Chicago Sun Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' and ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' printed favorable reviews, with the ''Tribune'' reporting "to call the inaugural Looptopia a success would be an understatement."

2007 Looptopia critics

Not all reactions were favorable. Many

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bloggers spoke of the swarms of people overcrowding the event. Looptopia 2007 also fell on an extremely cold night for mid-May in Chicago.

Photo gallery

Image:Looptopia El Advertisement.jpg, An advertisement on the Chicago "L" Image:Looptopia art institute after midnight.JPG, People outside the Art Institute after it closed Image:MF_Looptopia03SML.jpg, Live electronic music and video projection by MF Chicago Image:MF_Loop06.jpg, The installation by Josh Graff. ''Untitled'', wood and neon garnished with broccoli and dolls File:Looptopia (495501155).jpg, File:Looptopia d.jpg, File:DC0143-0141 looptopia.jpg, File:DC0143-0203 looptopia.jpg, 2008 in Daley Plaza

External links

The Looptopia Website from archive.org

Festivals in Chicago Defunct festivals Arts festivals in the United States

References

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