Pitchfork Music Festival
is organised by independently focused music source Pitchfork Media, hence the name. This three day event caters to music lovers of every genre, from rock, hip-hop, electronic, jazz, punk, among others. The event is a cultural delight, featuring an exciting fair, food, art, and beverages from local and national vendors.
Union Park, Chicago. July 19–21, 2019.
2018 headliners include Tame Impala, Fleet Foxes and Lauryn Hill. Apart from the headliners, the lineup is varied and out of this world, featuring local as well as international artists: Alex Cameron, Courtney Barnett, Mount Kimble, Big Thief, Earl Sweatshirt, Syd, Julien Baker, Saba, Open Mike Eagle, Julie Byrne, Joshua Abrams & Natural, Information Society, Lucy Dacus, Melkbelly, The Curls, The War on Drugs, Blood Orange, Raphael Saadlq, This is Not This Heat, Moses Sumney, Girlpool, Kaitlyn Aurella Smith, Circuit des Yeux, Zola Jesus, berhana, Paul Cherry, Chaka Khan, DRAM, Noname, Japandroids, (Sandy) Alex G, Smino, Japanese Breakfast, Kelly Lee Owens, Ravyn Lenae, Kweku Collins, Irreversible Entanglements, among others.
2018 marks the festival's 13th anniversary, and to celebrate “the internationally recognized Pitchfork Music Festival presents 40+ acts over the course of three days each summer in Chicago's Union Park. The festival highlights the best in new and emerging music. Since 2006, this independently run festival has consistently proven to be one of the most welcoming, comfortable, reasonably priced, and rewarding weekends of music around,” is written on the festival's website.
“Hosting 60,000 attendees of all ages from 45 states and 26 countries, Pitchfork Music Festival offers a wide array of activities beyond the music. With 50 individual vendors, as well as specialty record and craft fairs, the festival works to support local business while promoting the Chicago arts and food communities as a whole. We maintain a commitment to keeping ticket prices low, providing new and useful amenities, and working with the city's best local vendors each year. Stay tuned for more line-up and festival feature updates.”
The main gate for the event is located on Ashland Avenue, on the west side of Union Park. For all festival attendees, the secondary gate is at Washington Blvd. and Ogden Ave., on the east side of Union Park. Gates open at 12pm, as well as the Box Office, which remains open until 7pm before the festival, and from 11am until 9pm during the festival.
If you are wondering how to get to the festival, here is some advice you should consider. If you are planning on getting there by car, beware that the festival does not provide any parking for festival goers. There are no sanctioned parking lots for public use either in the Union Park area associated with the festival
If you opt for getting there by train, the Ashland stop on the Green and Pink lines is at the northwest corner of the park. If you decide to take a bus instead, the Ashland number 9 bus runs north/south and stops right on the western edge of Union Park. The Madison number 20 bus runs east/west and runs just south of the park, it also runs directly from Ogilvie station and is a short walk from Union Station downtown.
One of the best ways to the festival is by biking as organisers have a spacious and secure bike parking available located near the north gate of the festival.
As Pitchfork Music wants to remain a welcoming summer festival and community, they have a strict code of conduct that runs along the lines of common sense. As an attendee, you are expected to create an enjoyable and accepting environment for your fellow attendees, which includes the duty of speaking out when you see unacceptable behaviour.
The website states, “Pitchfork has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or discrimination of any kind, including but not limited to: race, colour, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, and disability status.”
The website also lists what they consider offensive behaviour, which include but is not limited to: “acts of physical assault or battery; verbal abuse' racial or ethnic slurs; groping, sexual assault, or unwanted sexual remarks; stalking; and threatening language.” If any attendee incurs in one of these offenses, they will be removed from the festival.