More Behind The Scenes Images From The Great Chicago Fire Fest Preview

• Alex Friedland
• “I overcome . . .”

In her column this week, arts writer Deanna Isaacs shared her impressions of the inaugural Great Chicago Fire Fest, a $2 million fire-on-water spectacle that Redmoon will stage on the main branch of the Chicago River in October. Last week Redmoon invited “donors and VIPs” (and journalists and photographers) to get an early look at what they’re working on.

This take on the city, as a hub of mass recovery, isn’t likely to inspire any travel plans by the international set. It seems, in fact, to be at odds with Emanuel’s goal of building an image of a Chicago powerful and glamorous enough to be a global destination. And the Fire Festival doesn’t look to be the drunken orgy that fuels Mardi Gras in New Orleans, either. What Redmoon is producing is something much more sober: a symbolic communal exorcism.

• Alex Friedland