Riot Fest Chicago is a music festival that prides itself on welcoming the angsty and sarcastic type that has an always-on playlist of punk rock from their youth. You’ll find lots of early 2000s mall goth style, “Make America Emo Again” hats, mohawks of incredible variety, and of course, rock music. Lots of it.
Riot Fest is one of the few remaining independently-owned large U.S. festivals and, aside from being known for its potent punk- and rock-centric lineups, it’s carved a unique niche on the live-music landscape as a host to exclusive reunion sets. The headliners for the 2023 Riot Fest are Foo Fighters, The Cure, the Postal Service, Deathcab for Cutie, Turnstile, Queens of the Stone Age, and the Mars Volta. This year’s full lineup is below.
At last year’s fest Y2k emo faves like My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday, punk rock legends Bad Religion and Nine Inch Nails, and hip hop stars like Ice Cube and Run the Jewels to balance out the rock a bit. The festival does a good job showcasing acts that don’t get as much love in the mainstream, too, like Night Spice and Surfbort.
If your love for the festival is only topped by your love for another person, you can marry them at the Riot Fest. The venue has a wedding chapel where 32 couples tied the knot in 2022. If you’re not interested in getting married but do have a really bad tattoo, you can enter to win a free cover up by posting a photo on the wall of bad tattoos.
The venue also has a ferris wheel, lots of vendors, and apparently a supreme lack of shade, so drink lots of water.
The Specs
- Around 40,000 people attend over the course of three days.
- Sign up to be notified when tickets go on sale.
- Riot Fest offers complimentary entry to residents living near the venue and employees of adjacent hospitals. Additionally, you can join the street team to promote the festival in exchange for free entry.
- Check out this guide for other fun things to do in Chicago.
FAQs
Where will Riot Fest be in 2023?
Riot Fest 2023 will be held in September at Douglass Park in North Lawndale, Chicago.
What is the exact address for Douglass Park?
Douglass Park is located at 1401 S Sacramento Dr, Chicago, IL 60623, United States
Is there an age limit for the music festival?
The Chicago event is all-ages. No age limits.
Who are the artist headliners for Riot Fest 2023?
Foo Fighters, the Cure, the Postal Service, Deathcab for Cutie, Turnstile, Queens of the Stone Age and the Mars Volta are headliners on the 2023 Riot Fest bill.
What is the Riot Fest 2023 lineup?
The full lineup is as follow:
- Foo Fighters
- The Postal Service
- Death Cab for Cutie
- The Cure
- Queens of the Stone Age
- Turnstile
- Mr. Bungle
- The Mars Volta
- Danzig
- Tegan and Sara
- 100 Gecs
- The Gaslight Anthem
- Death Grips
- AFI
- The Dresden Dolls
- Say Anything
- The Used
- Pennywise
- The Breeders
- The Interrupters
- PUP
- 070 Shake
- Ani DiFranco
- Parliament Funkadelic ft. George Clinton
- Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
- Finch
- Bayside
- Silverstein
- Sleep Token
- Kim Gordon
- Flogging Molly
- Viagra Boys
- Insane Clown Posse
- Gorilla Biscuits
- Head Automatica
- LS Dunes
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor
- Ride
- Nothing Nowhere
- Code Orange
- Cults
- White Reaper
- Balance and Composure
- Fake Names
- Eshu Tune
- Quicksand
- Jehnny Beth
- The Wrecks
- Thursday
- Hawthorne Heights
- Bowling for Soup
- Braid, H2O
- Spitalfield
- Enter Shikari
- Drain
- Snapcase
- Corey Feldman
- Origami Angel
- The Bronx
- The Exploited
- Plosivs
- Steve Ignorant Band / Crass
- Black Angels
- Yard Act
- Warpaint
- Nothing
- Screaming Females
- High Vis
- Rival Schools
- Caroline Rose
- Just Mustard
- Hotline TNT
- Quasi
- Microwave
- Sludgeworth
- Just Friends
- Pinkshift
- Enola Gay
- Earth Crisis
- Empire State Bastard
- Cassyette
- FEA
- Free Throw
- Bearings
- The Bobby Lees
- Pool Kids
- Fade ‘Em All
- Total Chaos
- Fleshwater
- Olivia Jean
- Calva Louise
- Ck Vassi
- Young Culture
2023 Poster
2022 Recap Video
Performances
Nine Inch Nails, full set 2022
Jimmy Eat World, full set 2022
Lunachicks, full set 2022
Descendents, full set 2022
