This year’s Riot Fest will be the tenth in Chicago, and to celebrate, organizers are announcing more stages and more rides. To cope with the site’s expansion the festival will now take place in the northern section of Humboldt Park.
Organizers are very excited about the new grounds, with the fest now operating between W. North Ave. and W. Division St. as the north and south boundaries, and within N. Kedzie Ave. and N. California Ave. as the west and east boundaries.
The expanded grounds will allow for significantly more attractions, including two Ferris wheels, and many other carnival rides such as crowd favorites like bumper cars and tilt-a-whirl. There will also be a mini-golf course, a haunted house ride, Lucha Libre wrestling and, of course, more than 100 bands.
The first Riot Fest in the Windy City was a multi-venue affair, with bands such as Dead Kennedys, Misfits and The Bouncing Souls playing. Since 2005, the festival has expanded in several ways: it is now held in an outdoor setting, with bands and artists of all persuasions playing, an ever-growing list of carnival attractions, and twin and triplet events held in Toronto (6-7th September) and Denver (19th-21st) either side of the Chicago weekend.
This year’s headliners include: Jane’s Addiction, Rise Against, Slayer, The National, The Flaming Lips, Wu-Tang Clan, The Cure, Weezer, and Social Distortion.
The Chicago leg of Riot Fest takes place 12th-14th September.