Riot Fest stays at Douglass Park and abandons plans to move to Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium

Just two months after announcing that Riot Fest would move from Douglass Park to SeatGeek Stadium in southwest suburban Bridgeview for its 2024 edition, festival organizers announced Wednesday that the music extravaganza will return to its longtime Chicago venue next month.

According to a statement released Wednesday by Chicago Park District Ald. Monique Scott (24th) and festival organizers, “strong support from North Lawndale leadership and community” was one of the main reasons for the location change. The festival is scheduled to take place September 20-22.

The announcement noted that approval from the Park District Board is still pending, but Park District CEO Rosa Escareno did not anticipate any complications.

“We were ready to give approval in June,” Escareno said. “As long as they come to the board meeting in September and meet all the requirements again, we will welcome them back.”

She thanked local councilor Monique Scott for putting RiotFest back together.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun Times

“The councillor firmly believes this is good for her community. If that is the case, who are we to stand in the way?”

As of Wednesday afternoon, a Bridgeview event was still listed on the festival website.

The announcement also noted that discussions with the park district “about a longer-term partnership that secures the future of the festival in Chicago” were part of the agreement.

The festival announced its withdrawal from Douglass Park in June after a decade of hosting the event, which in recent years has been plagued by controversy between civic groups who welcomed the event as an economic win for North Lawndale and other civic groups and residents who viewed it as a barrier to summer access to the park.

As in past years, 10% of Riot Fest revenue will be reinvested in Douglass Park. The 2024 festival is expected to generate approximately $712,000 for the park district fund, which will coordinate capital improvement projects with community involvement.

In June, festival co-founder Michael Petryshyn told the Sun-Times that the decision to move to Bridgeview was due to an “unfair process” during the permitting phase.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times File

When asked how the decision would affect diehard fans, Petryshyn told the Sun-Times, “We have the best fans in the world,” but long-term stability is also important.

“We are in Chicago. We are not leaving. This is our home,” he said.

“We didn’t plan on that. … We just did a 360-degree turn,” Petryshyn added. “When we do things like that, No. 1, we think, ‘What about the fans?’ That’s been discussed for months now, because without them we’re nothing. They’re the soul of it in many ways.”

Petryshyn said Mayor Brandon Johnson also had an influence on the decision to return to Chicago. Ald. Scott helped organize a meeting at the mayor’s request after the move to Bridgeview was announced.

“Sometimes things get lost in communication – or lack of communication,” Scott said.

“It’s the first time someone in that position has reached out to Riot Fest. He just wanted to talk,” Petryshyn said. “When I walked out there, I saw a mayor who was authentic and listened.”

“It was sincere from the beginning when he said, ‘This is not good for Chicago.’ … Later that week I made the decision that maybe there was an opportunity to come back – and that meeting spoke to me. So we’ve been working toward that for the last few months.”

Scott said events like Riot Fest “invigorate our local economy by creating jobs, attracting tourism, supporting our youth and providing a national stage for small businesses and artists from North Lawndale and Little Village. The return of Riot Fest is a win for our community and we look forward to the continued positive impact it will bring.”

Petryshyn had nothing but praise for Bridgeview.

“In the end, even Mayor Steven Landek was happy for us and said, you belong in Chicago. Our door is always open to you. … They opened their doors to us, they were accommodating, it was wonderful to work with them and I will always be grateful to them for that. … We still have a lot of work to do.”

Bridgeview Township spokesman Ray Hanania said in an email that the township had “no comment” on the relocation of the festival.

Ald. Scott’s brother, Cook County Commissioner Michael Scott Jr., was instrumental in organizing the Riot Fest in Douglass Park when he represented the area on the Chicago City Council.

He said he was “overjoyed for the community” that the festival was returning. Events like Riot Fest “focus attention on the positive things that are happening in the community,” he said.

“You see people from other communities walking up and down the street and mingling with the people from North Lawndale. It’s almost like one big, happy family. Everyone is happy to see them come. Everyone is happy to make a little money off of them. And all the concertgoers are happy to be outside and enjoying Douglass Park, a historic, majestic, beautiful park.”

News of the festival’s return came as an unwelcome surprise to some Douglass Park residents Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s like whiplash for the community because we just got this beautiful park back and everything is clean and tidy,” Helix Valentine said. “I think it’s also going to disrupt a lot of people’s lives. It feels like we’re going backwards.”

Valentine said she lived on the west side of the park near Albany Avenue for two years and witnessed the event’s negative impact on residents, including longer commute times. She took issue with the festival organizers and Scott, who said the community wanted the event back in Douglass Park.

“It’s crazy, just traffic, noise and garbage for weeks,” Valentine said. “It’s pretty tough.”

Yesenia Trejo, 37, echoed that sentiment. Trejo doesn’t live near the park, but she drives to Douglass with her two teenage sons to train with her soccer team on the artificial turf field on the east side of the park. She said the festival takes space away from local children.

“Young kids come to practice, and if you take away their space, they stop coming, and when they reopen it, there’s trash everywhere,” Trejo said. “They also come and damage the grass. They say the money goes to repairing the park, but I don’t see any improvements.”

Trejo said the park is often the most affordable option for some residents who enjoy being outdoors in the summer and cannot afford to go elsewhere.

“They’re taking away something that’s free for the whole community,” she said. “I was very happy when they said it would be in a suburb far away from here.”

Netza Roldan has lived on the east side of the park near California Avenue for seven years. Roldan, the executive director of the Binational Institute of Human Development, a nonprofit organization that supports immigrants, was not happy about the festival’s return.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun Times

“This completely violates all principles of our civil right to enjoy the place where we have lived for many years,” he said, complaining about noise, garbage and excessive drug and alcohol consumption by festival-goers.

“It’s really not only annoying, but I think it also disturbs our peace and our neighborhood,” Roldan said.