Riot Fest is moving to Bridgeview, running Sept. 20-22 at SeatGeek Stadium, 7000 S. Harlem Ave., according to a teaser on the festival website Wednesday that dubbed the new location RiotLand.
Tickets are slated to be on sale at 11 a.m. Wednesday at riotfest.org.
The announcement Wednesday 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 and before that was located in Humboldt Park since 2012.
Prior to 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 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 city parks and making them inaccessible for periods of time to the surrounding community.
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.”
The festival has also announced it will reveal the music lineup for 2024 on Wednesday.
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.
This story is updating.
