Riot Fest is an annual three-day punk rock music festival based in Chicago, Illinois, at Douglass Park.[1] It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances.[2] Riot Fest remains one of the largest independently owned music festivals in the United States.[3]
In 2012, Riot Fest moved from various venues around the city to an outdoor venue at Chicago's Humboldt Park and was marketed as Riot Fest & Carnival, with rides, games, wrestling, and food vendors. 2012 also saw the festival expand through North America with events staged in Brooklyn, Toronto, Dallas, and Denver soon after. Since the death of McKeough in 2016, Riot Fest has remained a once-a-year event in Chicago.[5]
The festival consisted of two days of music at Humboldt Park on Saturday, September 15 and Sunday, September 16 and a Friday night kickoff at the Congress Theater. The lineup for Riot Fest in 2012 included:
Riot Fest & Carnival returned to Humboldt Park in Chicago in 2013 and included satellite festivals in Toronto (August 24–25) and Denver (September 21–22).[7] The 2013 festival was noted for being the first performance by reunited punk legends the Replacements and notably the first performance by the band in Chicago since their very public breakup onstage at the Taste of Chicago in 1991.[8] The 2013 Chicago lineup included:
In September 2014 Riot Festival & Carnival returned to Humboldt Park for the last time. Roberto Maldonado, who had been a supporter of Riot Fest in the past, stated he would not have the fest back for 2015. This was due to damages to the park after heavy rain during the festival. The repairs cost $150,000.[9]
Conflicts over the condition of the grass and negative effects on the Boricua community, including gentrification of Humboldt Park and lack of financial benefits to the residents of the area led to the festival being moved to Douglas Park.[10] After settling on the new location, Saint Anthony Hospital filed a lawsuit against Riot Fest on September 4, arguing that the festival would be detrimental to their patients' health because of the "extreme noise" and the heavy traffic that would surround the hospital.[11] The two sides reached an agreement which included "restoring parking on 19th Street in front of Saint Anthony Hospital, building pedestrian barricades on the west side of California Avenue and sound monitoring within the hospital to protect patients."[12]
Saturday also saw the return of the "Riot Fest Speaks" panel series, once again moderated by Henry Rollins. The panel featured Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin of the West Memphis Three, discussing their history and the contribution of music activism to their release from prison. They were joined for the panel by Thurston Moore and former Crass vocalist Steve Ignorant.
On March 17, 2017, Riot Fest announced that the festival would not return to Denver, citing the death of co-founder Sean Mckeough the previous November as making it impossible to focus on more than one event in 2017. Despite this, the festival has expressed interest in eventually returning to Denver. In April 2017, it was announced that Jawbreaker was reuniting after 21 years and playing Riot Fest 2017.
Riot Fest was again held in Douglas Park in Chicago, September 14–16. Behind the scenes issues led to the finalized lineup and schedule not being released until the week before the fest,[14] leading many to assume the 2018 version would be the third iteration to be canceled.[15][16][17]Blink-182 was originally set to headline the first night but dropped out after drummer Travis Barker was hospitalized for blood clots in his arms. The band was replaced with Weezer and Run the Jewels, and would ultimately be booked the next year.
Riot Fest was held in Douglass Park, Chicago, Illinois, on September 17–19 with a preview party on the 16th.
My Chemical Romance was initially announced in January 2020 as the headliner for Riot Fest 2020.[18] The event was then postponed in June 2020 due to COVID-19.[19]
On April 16, 2021, My Chemical Romance announced the postponement of all shows until 2022. In response, Riot Fest confirmed the 2021 edition of the festival was still happening and shared a letter from founder Mike Petryshyn stating their intent to announce new headliners and a complete lineup in May 2021.[19]
On August 19, 2021, Nine Inch Nails announced the cancellation of their 2021 dates. In response, Riot Fest booked Slipknot as a new headliner, and added a special 'preview party' on the 16th with Morrissey.[20] Later, the Pixies also canceled their 2021 tour dates, with which on September 2, Riot Fest added The Flaming Lips on Sunday with Slipknot, and on the 16th added Alkaline Trio, Patti Smith, Joyce Manor and more.[21] Around the same time, Dinosaur Jr. also canceled their dates until November, with Riot Fest adding Pinegrove soon after.
On September 14, both Faith No More and Mr. Bungle also announced the cancellation of each band's fall 2021 dates, including Riot Fest, citing vocalist Mike Patton's ongoing mental health issues. Riot Fest organizers booked Rise Against and Anthrax as replacements for both bands.[22]
Riot Fest was held in Douglass Park, Chicago, Illinois, on Friday, September 16 – Sunday, September 18.
The festival's 2022 lineup was announced on May 11.[23]Placebo was initially announced to be playing on Friday, September 16, but had to withdraw from the festival when their planned North American tour was postponed due to visa and logistical issues.[24]Bauhaus was scheduled to play on Saturday, September 17, but canceled their planned 2022 tour when lead singer Peter Murphy entered rehab.[25] Placebo and Bauhaus were replaced in the lineup by Sparta and Gogol Bordello, respectively.[26]
It was announced on May 15, 2023 that Riot Fest would be returning to Douglass Park September 15–17.[27] The lineup was announced on May 17.[28] On Sunday, rainy conditions led to the festival's start time being delayed until 2:00 PM and the cancellation of all early sets scheduled for that day.
Three instances of Riot Fest have been canceled over the course of the festival's run.
The first came in 2009 in the form of Riot Fest West, originally set to happen in November 2009 and postponed in September. The fest initially vowed to make up the dates in spring 2010 but the replacement fest did not materialize.[29]
The second cancellation came in 2012 when Riot Fest East in Philadelphia was again postponed, this time one week before the show's planned July 19 start date. Though a reschedule was initially promised a follow-up never emerged.[30]
The third cancellation came in 2020 when concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic made the festival's cancellation inevitable. Organizers have called this a postponement, as a significant part of the 2020 lineup played in the 2021 festival.[31]
Though not an outright cancellation, Riot Fest Brooklyn in 2012 was shut down early due to weather concerns.[32]
Controversy
In 2023, residents of the Douglas Park neighborhood where Riot Fest had been held since 2015 protested the festival's plans to continue operating there.[33] Discussions deteriorated into yelling at a community event between neighborhood residents and festival organizers, as community members complained that the music fest forces them out of large sections of the public park for weeks at a time so private events can be held, damages the park and has displaced youth sports teams that have had to find homes elsewhere. Community members had previously petitioned the Chicago Park District to remove Riot Fest and other music festivals from Douglass Park in 2022.[34]
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