Riot Fest headliners for 2024 will be Beck, Public Enemy, the Marley Brothers and Fall Out Boy, along with Slayer, The Offspring (performing “Smash”), St. Vincent, Bright Eyes, Rob Zombie, Dr. Dog, Sublime and Pavement.
The three-day music festival is moving to Bridgeview, running Sept. 20-22 at SeatGeek Stadium, 7000 S. Harlem Ave. Tickets (2-DAY and 3-DAY) are on sale at 11 a.m. Wednesday at riotfest.org.
Other bands and performers include Michael C. Hall with his band Princess Goes, Spoon, Manchester Orchestra (performing their 2014 album “Cope”), Oliver Tree, Sum 41, Cypress Hill, Waxahatchee, New Found Glory, Something Corporate, Tierra Whack, Taking Back Sunday, Lamb of God, Mastodon (performing “Leviathan”), Hot Mulligan, Beach Bunny, The Hives, Suicidal Tendencies, L.S. Dunes, Basem*nt, State Champs, Poison the Well, Gwar, Clutch, Rival Sons, Health, Descendents, Circle Jerks, Pennywise, The Lawrence Arms, Face to Face, Buzzco*cks, Laura Jane Grace with Catbite, Dillinger Four, Lagwagon, The Vandals, All Strung Out, Dead Milkmen, D.O.A., The Dickies, Codefendants, Cobra Skulls, Swingin’ Utters, The Defiant, The Exploited, Urethane, Get Dead and Doomscroll. The full lineup includes some 90 bands.
The Riot Fest 2024 Lineup is here.
2-DAY + 3-DAY Tickets on sale now. https://t.co/y6Es7qgAmd pic.twitter.com/ym2sTc0vC0— Riot Fest (@RiotFest) June 12, 2024
The announcement of the move Wednesday dubbed the new location RiotLand, and came after a social media statement from Riot Fest founder Mike Petryshyn late Tuesday that the annual three-day music festival would no longer be held in Douglass Park in the North Lawndale neighborhood. Riot Fest had been held there since 2015, before that in Humboldt Park since 2012.
Before Riot Fest’s move, the annual Summer Smash music festival of hip hop relocated in 2023 from Douglass Park to SeatGeek Stadium, with this year’s Summer Smash taking place there this coming weekend.
Riot Fest to leave Douglass Park following years of community tension, founder says
Petryshyn said the Chicago Park District was “solely” responsible for the festival’s move, and thanked Ald. Monique Scott, 24th, for her support of the event. Though Scott said the local community supported Riot Fest, some had criticized it and some other big music events for taking over portions of city parks and fencing them off from the surrounding community.
The SeatGeek Stadium campus, which is owned by the local village of Bridgeview, has hosted other music festivals in the past. Along with the stadium, the location has a number of surrounding sports fields with artificial turf that have been used for stages.
Although it has a large parking lot, the location is some 15 miles southwest of downtown and is not easily accessible by public transportation, requiring a Pace bus transfer from the the Midway Orange Line CTA station. A Getting to RiotLand page on the festival’s website said that information about shuttles was coming soon.
Riot Fest will also include its usual array of food, drink and merchandise vendors, as well as the the Wedding Chapel, vintage arcade games and the Hellzapoppin’ Circus Sideshow Revue. A Q101 Radio Tower is described as “a nostalgic tribute to an iconic radio station.” The Cabaret Metro Stage is named after the Chicago music venue. Riot Fest also promised an NOFX World stage, a skate ramp and an operating casino.
Beck performs at The Wiltern on Jan. 6, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Phillip Faraone/Getty)
Rappers Flavor Flav and Chuck D from Public Enemy perform at a pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Feb. 3, 2024. (Frederic J. Brown / AFP)
Rob Zombie performs during the Freaks on Parade tour at Toyota Pavilion in 2023 in Concord, California. (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty)
Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy perform during the So Much For (2our) Dust tour at Dickies Arena on March 7, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty)
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Scott issued a further statement early Wednesday, saying that Park District permission for Riot Fest to remain in Douglass Park had been scheduled for a board meeting Wednesday but the decision had come too late.
She also called community opposition to the festival a “false narrative” and said inequities to the community were a wider problem.
“For the past eight years. Riot Fest has been a cornerstone of positive impact and opportunity in our community. The festival has worked closely with our office. community organizations. and numerous stakeholders to develop a plan that resulted in unprecedented benefits for the local community. Their significant investments in our youth, small businesses and residents have greatly contributed to the well-being and vibrancy of the 24th Ward,” the statement read in part. “My constituents have expressed their concerns about the vast financial inequities that exist in parks located in predominantly Black neighborhoods versus others. Despite the substantial payments made by Riot Fest over the years, local stakeholders believe the promised reinvestment into our community is insufficient.”
dgeorge@chicagotribune.com
