Green Day, Blink-182, Weezer and Jack White will headline Riot Fest’s 20th anniversary this September in Douglass Park, organizers announced today.
On the nostalgia front, the Sex Pistols will perform at the fest just after kicking off their first tour in 20 years. The fest is also bringing the Beach Boys back to Chicago.
The lineup also features Chicago band Dehd as well as Dropkick Murphys, The Linda Lindas, All Time Low, Hanson, Rico Nasty, The Front Bottoms, Cobra Starship and Alkaline Trio.
Tickets for the Sept. 19-21 weekend went on sale Wednesday. Three-day passes start at $299.98.
“We didn’t plan on making it for 20 years. We planned on making it through one weekend. But here we are – still loud, still weird, still building something bigger than we ever meant to,” festival founder “Riot Mike” Petryshyn said Wednesday in a release.
Rico Nasty will perform at the 20th anniversary Riot Fest in 2025.
The announcement follows the Chicago Park District’s decision earlier this month to grant Riot Fest a three-year deal to carry on in Douglass Park. The decision is expected to generate more than $3 million for the district, but it’s not without criticism.
Riot Fest has long been the object of frustration for neighbors, who have frequently lodged complaints about parking difficulties, traffic congestion, noise, crowds and trash caused by the festival. District representatives say they’ve held more than 60 meetings with community stakeholders since last year’s festival — which made headlines when organizers announced a move to Bridgeview’s Seatgeek Stadium, though it ended up staying at the event’s original spot.
The Park District says $900,000 to $1.2 million of proceeds will go toward park improvements. It also comes with a possibility for a two-year extension.
Riot Fest is one of the city’s marquee summer music events, but this year faces less competition with the exit of Pitchfork after 19 years. Pitchfork’s parent owner, Condé Nast, announced last fall that it was permanently shuttering the Chicago festival. One of the festival co-founders, Mike Reed, said after the announcement that costs of putting on festivals have escalated, from talent fees to security. Just last week, a coalition of neighborhood festival organizers joined forces to alert city officials and the public about the mounting costs of staging large events.
Riot Fest started in 2005 with a series of concerts at the Congress Theater and quickly expanded to venues in other cities. In 2012, organizers moved the festival outdoors to Humboldt Park. Three years later, the event moved south to Douglass Park, where it has been held annually with an exception of a COVID-19 closure in 2020.
Morgan Ciocca is the digital producer for Vocalo.
