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| Riot Fest | |
|---|---|
 Jimmy Eat World at Riot Fest 2016 | |
| Genre | Punk rock[1] |
| Dates | September 19–21, 2025 |
| Locations | Douglass Park,Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Founders | Mike Petryshyn & Sean McKeough |
| Website | riotfest |
Riot Fest is an annual three-daypunk rock music festival held atDouglass Park inChicago, Illinois.[1] It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances.[2] Riot Fest is one of the largest independently ownedmusic festivals in the United States.[3]
Riot Fest was established in Chicago in 2005 by Mike Petryshyn and Sean McKeough. McKeough also co-produced Chicago'sMotoblot annual motorcycle rally.[4] Riot Fest spent seven years as a multi-venue festival, using theMetro, Subterranean,Double Door, Cobra Lounge, and theCongress Theater to present bands over a three-day weekend.
In 2012, Riot Fest moved 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 in Brooklyn, Toronto, Dallas, and Denver soon after. Since McKeough's death in 2016, Riot Fest has remained an annual event in Chicago.[5]
The festival played a key role in the reunions ofNaked Raygun,The Replacements in 2013, theMisfits in 2016, andJawbreaker in 2017, among others.[6]
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 theCongress Theater.
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 legendsthe Replacements and notably the first performance by the band in Chicago since their very public breakup onstage at theTaste of Chicago in 1991.[8]
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]
Riot Fest 2014 included the inaugural "Riot Fest Speaks" panel, moderated byHenry Rollins. In addition, 2014 saw the return of Riot Fest in Denver and Toronto.
Conflicts over the condition of the grass and negative effects on theBoricua community, includinggentrification of Humboldt Park and lack of financial benefits to the area's residents led the festival to move toDouglass Park.[10] Saint Anthony Hospital sued Riot Fest on September 4, arguing that the festival would be detrimental to its patients' health because of the "extreme noise" and the heavy traffic that would surround the hospital.[11] The two sides reached an agreement that 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 saw the return of the "Riot Fest Speaks" panel series, once again moderated byHenry Rollins. Sunday also featured an additional "Riot Fest Speaks" panel,Basement Screams, on Chicago's independent and punk scenes.
On May 12, 2016, it was announced that after 33 years, theMisfits lineup ofGlenn Danzig,Jerry Only andDoyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein would reunite and headline the Riot Fest in Chicago and Denver in September 2016.[13]
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 thatJawbreaker was reuniting after 21 years and playing Riot Fest 2017.
Riot Fest was again held inDouglas 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 drummerTravis Barker was hospitalized for blood clots in his arms. The band was replaced withWeezer andRun the Jewels, and would ultimately be booked the next year.
Douglas Park, Chicago, Illinois, September 13–15, 2019. This year marked the 15th anniversary of the festival.
Riot Fest was held inDouglass Park 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 toCOVID-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 bookedSlipknot as a new headliner, and added a special 'preview party' on the 16th withMorrissey.[20] Later, thePixies also canceled their 2021 tour dates. On September 2, Riot Fest addedThe Flaming Lips on Sunday with Slipknot, and on the 16th addedAlkaline Trio,Patti Smith,Joyce Manor and more.[21] Around the same time,Dinosaur Jr. also canceled their dates until November, with Riot Fest addingPinegrove soon after.
On September 14, bothFaith No More andMr. Bungle also announced the cancellation of each band's fall 2021 dates, including Riot Fest, citing vocalistMike Patton's ongoingmental health issues. Riot Fest organizers bookedRise Against andAnthrax as replacements for both bands.[22]
Riot Fest was held inDouglass Park on September 16 – 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 singerPeter Murphy entered rehab.[25] Placebo and Bauhaus were replaced in the lineup bySparta andGogol Bordello, respectively.[26]
It was announced on May 15, 2023, that Riot Fest would return to Douglass Park September 15–17.[27] The lineup was announced on May 17.[28] On Sunday, rainy conditions delayed the festival's start to 2 PM and canceled all early sets that day.
The 20th anniversary was held in Douglass Park, and the lineup includedGreen Day,Blink-182,Weezer,The Sex Pistols,"Weird Al" Yankovic,The Beach Boys,Jack White,Dropkick Murphys,The Linda Lindas,All Time Low,Hanson,Rico Nasty,The Front Bottoms,Cobra Starship,Alkaline Trio,Gym Class Heroes, andRilo Kiley.[29]
Three instances of Riot Fest have been canceled. 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.[30] The second cancellation came in 2012 when Riot Fest East in Philadelphia was postponed, this time one week before the show's planned July 19 start date. Though a reschedule was initially promised, it never emerged.[31] The third cancellation came in 2020 when concerns due to theCOVID-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.[32]
Though not an outright cancellation, Riot Fest Brooklyn in 2012 was shut down early due to weather concerns.[33]
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.[34] 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. Community members had petitioned the Chicago Park District to remove Riot Fest and other music festivals from Douglass Park in 2022.[35]
Stephen Shult, ofArlington Heights, was reported missing after Riot Fest’s last day in 2024. He died after being put in an intensive care unit for head trauma. Riot Fest organizers denied that he had been injured at the festival.[36]
