As Top Street Fest Producer Closes, Lawsuit Emerges Over Handling Of Taste Of Randolph

DOWNTOWN — Star Events, the company behind some of Chicago’s biggest and most beloved street festivals, quietly shut down in January after nearly 30 years, and it’s now embroiled in a lawsuit in which a former client is accusing it of fraud, financial mismanagement and defamation.

The event production company helped shape Chicago’s summer festival lineup, organizing major events like Taste of Randolph, Mayfest, Southport Art Fest, Midsommarfest and Clark After Dark.

Many of these festivals double as fundraisers for neighborhood groups, and Star Events claims it has helped raise more than $25 million for nonprofit partners over the years, according to its website.

A welcome tent at the 2019 Mayfest in Lincoln Park. Credit: Facebook/Mayfest

But in January, Star Events notified longtime clients it was shutting down and would not be producing events in 2025. The move left at least 13 festivals and events without a production team just months before the summer season.

Five local organizations — the West Central Association, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Chicago Loop Alliance, Rogers Park Business Alliance and Ranch Triangle Association — confirmed in February they received written notice of the closure. While none shared the letter with Block Club Chicago, Star Events offered to answer questions and assist with transitions, several group leaders said. Star Events handled a slate of services for these events, from full-scale event production to vendor management, event marketing, talent buying, event logistics and consulting.

“It is difficult to close a business. We appreciate the position they were in with escalating costs in the current economic climate. We wish them well,” Kate Dumbleton, a spokesperson for Hyde Park Jazz Festival, said in a statement.

Louise Yingduo Liu, spokesperson for the Rogers Park Business Alliance, declined to share the “private email” from Star Events about the closure but described it as “sincere.” 

“Star Events made themselves available to answer any questions or offer assistance, should RPBA need it,” she said in an email.

As of June, three of the five organizations have partnered with new event companies for their festivals. Chalk Howard Street, an August event hosted by the Rogers Park Business Alliance, will not take place this year due to funding issues, Yingduo Liu confirmed.

The West Central Association hasn’t said if it found a new events producer but did say it has been in contact with several production companies.

“After we learned that Star Events was no longer producing events this year, we heard from quite a few companies that were interested in working with us on our events,” Patti Doyle, the association’s executive director, said in a statement. “This was a great opportunity for us to revisit our already successful events, like the West Loop Art Fest, and find a partner that could make sure that we could continue to grow the events and also keep them relevant to our artists, attendees and our Near West Side community.”

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival. Credit: Photo by Marc Monaghan provided by Hyde Park Jazz Festival

Meanwhile, Star Events is facing a lawsuit filed by a former client over how it managed one of Chicago’s most high-profile summer festivals.

The West Loop Community Organization filed a lawsuit in August accusing Star Events of underreporting revenue, inflating expenses and mishandling ticket sales for Taste of Randolph, one of the city’s best-known summer street festivals, which takes place Friday through Sunday. 

The lawsuit stems from public backlash over how the festival was managed, including concerns about how donations were collected, which has been previously reported by Block Club.

A calendar for Star Event clients obtained by Block Club shows the company had at least 20 other events planned for 2025, including these major recurring festivals:

• Chicago Mayfest
• Fridays on Fulton
• Sundays on State
• Bark Walk for a More Humane Chicago
• Festa Italiana
• Chalk Howard Street
• West Loop Art Fest
• Riot Fest
• Hyde Park Jazz Festival
• Roscoe Village Halloween Block Party
• Retro on Roscoe
• Veg Out Logan Square Chicago

Riot Fest publicist Heather West confirmed the music festival previously worked with Star Events but had not been formally informed of the closure. She said the closure won’t affect the alternative music fest, scheduled for Sept. 19-21.

“Star Events handled various functions at various festivals like vendors, but they don’t own any of Riot Fest — it’s owned by Riot Mike Petryshyn,” West said in a February email. “It won’t make any difference for us. We’ll just hire someone else.”

Larry Peterson, President of Roscoe Village Neighbors, said he heard rumors of Star Events’ closure in early to mid-2024, but when he asked leadership about it, they denied it. 

“I get it, they couldn’t tell us because … they hadn’t told their employees,” Peterson said.

Despite the closure, Peterson described the community group’s relationship with Star Events as positive, praising the company for its deep institutional knowledge and relationships with local businesses in the community.

Roscoe Village Neighbors is now working with Special Events Management to produce Retro on Roscoe and and the Roscoe Village Halloween Block Party, Peterson said. 

Star Events CEO John Barry did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Michelle Krage, a former company president who is also named in the lawsuit, didn’t respond either. 

Star Events’ website remains active but lists no events for 2025.

Taste of Randolph in West Loop on June 16, 2023. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Since 2016, Star Events had produced the popular Taste of Randolph festival for the West Loop Community Organization, known as WLCO in the neighborhood. The partnership ended in 2023 after both organizations drew criticism for promoting a $10 entrance fee to the free street festival, violating city rules.

Julie Darling, WLCO’s president, previously said she believed the $10 ticket promotion was likely an intern or assistant’s mistake. Barry later apologized and offered refunds to anyone who felt the ticket purchase was “unwarranted.” Block Club previously reported that Star Events had sold tickets online for other free street festivals without clearly stating that donations were optional.

Star Events advertised the Taste of Randolph as a ticketed event in May directing people to buy tickets to the free festival on Bucket Listers. Credit: Block Club Chicago

More controversy followed.

The West Loop Community Organization claimed the 2023 Taste of Randolph would benefit a charity supporting children with craniofacial anomalies. But the charity was not involved in planning and was never told how it would benefit from the event, Block Club reported.

Following the public fallout, WLCO terminated its Taste of Randolph contract with Star Events in August 2023. In turn, Star Events dropped the group as its partner for the West Loop Art Fest.

After an extensive rebranding, Darling relaunched WLCO in 2024 with a new board and mission. The current board includes Darling, Nick Karounos, Gino Bartucci, Jovanis Bouargoub, Jeff DeLapp and Jose Rivera. The group now focuses on cleanliness, public safety and community engagement while continuing to host Taste of Randolph.

Now, in part to recoup rebranding costs, WLCO is suing Star Events for defamation, stating the public fallout forced the organization to incur “substantial additional costs and expenses in an effort to repair the damage” to its reputation, according to court records.

WLCO is also accusing Star Events of financial mismanagement, claiming the company underreported ticket sales revenue, inflated expenses and charged for services that were unnecessary or nonexistent, according to court filings.

Darling did not respond to requests for comment.

Post from Julie Darling, president of West Loop Community Organization regarding Face the Future. Credit: Melody Mercado/Block Club Chicago

In September 2023, Sean Mulroney, an attorney for WLCO, submitted a “demand for accounting” to Star Events asking for detailed financial records for Taste of Randolph festivals in 2022 and 2023.

According to the lawsuit, Star Events “refused to provide any explanation or updated information to justify or explain the inaccuracies or outright misrepresentations in income and expense statement and audit.”

The lawsuit accuses Star Events of underreporting revenue and inflating expenses, but it does not include direct proof. Instead, the claims are made “on information and belief,” meaning WLCO does not have firsthand evidence but believes the allegations are true based on what it knows.

“This type of false reporting, embezzlement, and subterfuge was systemic throughout all of Star’s income and expense reports from 2016 through 2023 and intentionally done to increase Star’s bottom line to the detriment of WLCO,” the lawsuit states.

Star Events previously told Block Club that WLCO made at least $70,000 from the 2023 Taste of Randolph. It also receives 20 percent of sponsorship revenue and 10 percent of net profits above $60,000, according to the 2023 statement of work included in the lawsuit. In 2022, the group made at least $50,000, 20 percent of sponsorship revenue and 10 percent of net profits above $50,000, according to a 2022 statement of work included in the lawsuit.

Peterson, of Roscoe Village Neighbors, said his group worked with Star Events for nearly 30 years to produce Retro on Roscoe. After hearing about the lawsuit from WLCO, Peterson said his organization conducted a review of its financial records with Star Events and found no discrepancies.

Roscoe Village Neighbors kept close tabs on cash collected at the gates and beer booths and relied on a treasurer to track earnings and payouts for the popular Roscoe Village street fest, Peterson said.

“So far, you know, pretty fortunate or happy or pleased that we didn’t find anything,” Peterson said.

Julie Darling, president of the West Loop Community Organization. Credit: Melody Mercado, Block Club Chicago

Star Events and WLCO are also at odds over ownership of Taste of Randolph’s social media pages. 

WLCO alleges that Star Events has refused to return its Facebook and Instagram pages after being terminated as the event’s producer in 2023. According to the event production agreement included in the lawsuit, Star Events was granted a one-time, limited license to use the group’s intellectual property, including the Taste of Randolph name.

But the agreement also states that Star Events retains ownership of any intellectual property it creates for an event. In the lawsuit, WLCO argues the social media accounts were made specifically to represent Taste of Randolph and its trademark and therefore should remain under the group’s control.

Since ending its relationship with Star Events, WLCO has partnered with Duff Entertainment, the team behind Windy City Smokeout, to continue producing Taste of Randolph. 

Taste of Randolph returns this weekend with headliners including OK Go, Phantogram, Chromeo and J. Worra, along with ticketed after-parties at popular venues such as Kashmir, Spybar and PRYSM.

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