[UPDATE] Riot Fest Announces They Are Moving To Douglas Park, Line-up To Be Released Next Week

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 20, 2015 2:30PM

Riot Fest is surfing into a new neighborhood, photo by Jessica Mlinaric/Chicagoist)

In news breaking early this morning NBC announced Riot Fest was abandoning its fight against Alderman Roberto Maldonado and relocating the festival from Humboldt Park to Douglas Park, a few miles further south. This news was quickly followed up with a post on the Riot Fest site extolling the virtues of their new location. According to NBC, organizers considered moving the entire festival outside of Chicago, but were convinced to stay by Ald. Joe Moreno (1st Ward) and Ald. George Cardenas, who represents the 12th Ward, including Douglas Park.

No word yet on how local Humboldt Park businesses feel about losing the influx of cash Riot Fest brought to the neighborhood.

We have a request out for a statement from Riot Fest organizers so more on this as it develops.

UPDATE: In a statement released by Riot Fest, it sounds like all parties involved in the new location seem pretty happy about the move.

According to, founder Michael Petryshyn:

In my very first meeting with Alderman Cardenas, I was happy that we were discussing logistical details and how we could enrich the community. Quite frankly, I was silently ecstatic. He wanted to know more about staging, production, staffing and myriad small details many elected officials would never think to ask. Analytical minds in the festival world are a commodity and I was impressed with how Alderman Cardenas saw the big picture in the details. He gets it and it was genuine. And that's half the battle when staging a festival. We are so very excited to get to know our new neighbors and to work with them to hold an event that is beneficial to the community, local businesses and the residents. Essentially, everything we have brought to Humboldt Park over the last three years.

Ald. Cardenas appears to agree:

Music brings people of all different backgrounds together. It’s the melodies and lyrics that artists create that inspire us, motivate us, and maybe even more importantly, it provides a mixtape of important events in our lives. From Woodstock to Riot Fest it’s about unity and creating a positive community. It’s as American pie as you can get. We are excited that Riot Fest has honored us by selecting Douglas Park as its new home. More importantly, the community is thrilled to say ‘welcome’ to the over 150,000 fans, artists and staff that make Riot Fest possible. We look forward to working with Riot Fest, Mike and Sean [McKeough, Petryshyn's partner in Riot Fest], and we welcome the economic impact Riot Fest brings to the community.

Now that the location has finally been locked down, we're also told we can look forward to the Riot Fest line-up finally getting released next week.