Pitchfork Festival Will Not Return To Chicago In 2025

Pitchfork Festival announced on social media that the festival will not be returning to Chicago in 2025. The festival took place in the city for 19 years.

“This decision was not made lightly,” Pitchfork Festival said in its statement posted to Instagram. “For 19 years, Pitchfork Music Festival has been a celebration of music, art and community – a space where memories were made, voices were amplified and the shared love of music brought us all together. The Festival, while aligned with the taste of the Pitchfork editorial team, has always been a collaborative effort taking on a life of its own as a vital pillar of the Chicago arts scene. We are deeply grateful to the City of Chicago for being our Festival’s home for nearly two decades, to the artists who graced our stages with unforgettable performances, and to the fans who brought unmatched energy year after year.”

The music festival did not state a specific reason for the cancelation, instead writing, “As the music festival landscape continues to evolve rapidly, we have made the difficult decision not to host Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2025.” While the festival will not take place, Pitchfork promised to continue events and activations in the city next year.

The decision to cancel the Pitchfork Festival comes after parent company Conde Nast in January instituted a deep round of layoffs impacting a number of longtime senior editorial staffers and nested the music platform under men’s lifestyle magazine GQ.

This year’s Pitchfork Festival took place July 19 to 21 at Chicago’s Union Park with performances by Black Pumas, Jai Paul, 100 Ggecs, Jamie xx, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessie Ware, Alanis Morissette, Brittany Howard, Muna and more.