Tomorrow Never Knows

Tomorrow Never Knows 2025

JANUARY 15-19, 2025
CHICAGO, IL

THE SHORT VERSION

The multi-venue indie music and comedic festival returns with Adeline Hotel, Kingfisher, Cassius Tae, Sleeper’s Bell and many others.

January will mark the 20th anniversary of Tomorrow Never Knows. Founded in 2005, the festival showcases indie music and comedic talent across eight small venues in Chicago. The festival exists on the premise that music fans will battle the sometimes-sub-frozen temperatures of an Illinois winter if it means seeing a good show, and Chicagoans don’t disappoint.

For a week, Tomorrow Never Knows 2025 will take place across different clubs around the windy city instead of a single festival ground, giving each show the atmosphere of a small, indie concert, or typical comedy show. Organized in part by the venues themselves, the festival promotes smaller, up-and-coming indie bands over music giants. You’ll forget all about the weather once you’re surrounded by hundreds of personal space heaters in clubs like Lincoln Hall, a 507-person, standing-room-only venue in an old nickel movie theater with a stage low enough to feel like you’re partying with the band, or its sister venue Schubas Tavern, an even smaller space reminiscent of a church’s rec room tucked away behind the bar. Other participating venues this year include Gman Tavern, The Hideout (which describes itself as “a regular guy bar for irregular folks”), Color Club, Sleeping Village, Metro and Judson & Moore.

The music festival’s past lineups have seen the likes of Still Woozy, Late Night Drive Home, Snail Mail and Rat Boys, not to mention performances by comedy troupes and stand-ups like Michelle Wolf, Tim Heidecker and Sarah Sherman. This year’s lineup includes Adeline Hotel, Alive Girl, Alan Resnick, Kingfisher, Ky Newman, Options, Cassius Tae, Sleeper’s Bell and more indie darlings than you’d find in an artsy Instagram photo dump. For more info visit tnkfest.com.

 

Poster

Tomorrow Never Knows 2025
Tomorrow Never Knows 2025

2025 full lineup

  • Adeline Hotel
  • Alan Resnick
  • Alive Girl
  • Altgrandma
  • Anna Seregina
  • Been Stellar
  • Cameron Winter
  • Dave Vettraino
  • Exploration Live
  • Feller
  • Fran
  • Half Waif
  • Internet Girl
  • Kingfisher
  • Ky Newman
  • Lawn
  • Lutalo
  • Malice K
  • Manwolves
  • Maps & Atlases
  • N.O.I.A
  • Options
  • Parker Callahan
  • Podcast About List
  • Radio Outernational
  • Skyler Higley
  • Spike and Honey
  • Sunshy
  • This is Lorelei
  • Urikas Bedroom
  • VV Lightbody

FAQs

When is the festival?

It returns January 15-19, 2025 in Chicago.

BY Emily Frantz