Say “Lollapalooza.” You can feel that word roll off your tongue in an extraordinary way. Plus, it sounds like what it means, “an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event.” As music festivals go — Lollapalooza is indeed extraordinary. It will draw about 160,000 visitors to Chicago’s Grant Park over the 2017 event’s four days, which last from August 3 – 6.
What’s in Store for You at Lollapalooza?
You’ll hear bands in the following genres:
- Alternative rock
- Heavy metal
- Punk rock
- Hip-hop
- EDM
- Pop
Lollapalooza has dancing, comedy performances, craft booths and even some platforms for non-profit and political groups. It’s no wonder visitors pack in for the festival with it’s eight stages and more than 170 bands coming from all over the world.
You’ll love the art market and all the merch too.
From the Festival’s Humble Beginnings to Today
Lollapalooza began in 1991 as a festival co-founded by Jane Addiction’s Perry Farrell. It was supposed to be a one-time event and a goodbye tour that consisted of underground bands, including Living Colour, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Rollins Band, Nine Inch Nails, the Buttonhole Surfers and Ice-T. While Farrell was ready to wrap the festival up, the music industry saw its potential for continuing success and wanted the Red Hot Chili Peppers for it in 1992. So the festival expanded beyond its original genres. It disappeared after 1997 and came back again in 2003, and then in 2005 morphed into a two-day and in 2016 a four-day music festival held in Grant Park.
It’s become part of the overall music festival market that annually attracts 32 million fans from around the globe.
The festival contributes $155 million to Chicago’s economy, and $35 million come to the city directly from taxes, fees, jobs and other sources of revenue.
Kidzapalooza
Kids under 10 get in free with their parents. Kids are entertained with band camps and hairdo contests. There are baby-changing stations and other amenities for families, including family friendly music, arts and crafts, ping-pong tables and lounges where you can hang out.
Headliners for This Mega Fest
Grammy award winner and Chicago native Chance the Rapper will be head lining along with The Killers, Muse, Arcade Fire, The xx, Lordes, Blink-182, DJ Snake and Justice.
2017 Music Lineup
The lineup of bands and artists playing in 2017 is impressive:
- Chance the Rapper
- The Killers
- Muse
- Arcade Fire
- The XX
- Lorde
- Blink-182
- DJ Snake
- Justice Alt-J
- Run the Jewels
- Cage the Elephant
- Wiz Kahlifa
- Big Sean
- The Head and the Heart
- Foster the People
- The Shins
- Ryan Adams
- Kaskade
- Porter Robinson
- Meds Dead
- Liam Gallagher
- Rae Sremmurd
- Glass Animals
- Gramatik
- Migos
- Phantogram
- Tove Lo
- Spoon
- Milky Chance
- Lil Uzi Vert
- Vance Joy
- Tegan and Sara
- Grouplove
- Crystal Castles
- Jon Bellion
- Kaleo
- Little Dragon
- DVBBS
- Mac Cemarco
- Russ
- 21 Savage
- Banks
- 3LAU
- George Ezra
- Borgore
- Slyvan Esso
- Allison Wonderland
- Live
- Lil Yachty
- Whitney
- Capital Cities
- Royal Blood
- London Brammar
- Rag’N’Bone Man
- Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
- NoName
- Majid Jordan
- Joey Badass
- Kaytranada
- Charli XCS
- Care Seat Headrest
- Slander
- Getter
- NGTMRE
- Machine Gun Kelly
- The Pretty Reckless
- WarPaint
- Baauer
- Highly Suspect
- Zara Larsson
- Slushii
- The Drums
- A-Trak
- Glack
- Cloud Nothings
- Tritonal
- Sampha
- Jai Wolf
- Ephwurd
- Alvvays
- Maggie Rogers
- Within hours of becoming available, the four-day tickets for Lolla sold out.
International Venues
Chile
Lollapalooza first took the stage in South America in 2010 in Santiago, Chile.
Brazil
The Brazilian version of the music festival debuted in Sao Paulo in 2011 and has continued every year since then through 2017. These festivals have occurred in March and April.
Argentina
Beginning in 2015, Argentina’s version of the festival took place in Buenos Aires in March or April and has occurred every year since then including 2017.
Germany
The festival was held two days in September 2015 and 2016 in Berlin and is also scheduled for September 9-10 in 2017.
Paris
For the first time this year, the festival will occur in Paris on July 22-23.
Book a Bus and Head to Chicago
It’s time for music lovers to come together and head to Chicago. You just can’t beat a charter bus for group travel to music festivals. The festival is held on 115 acres between downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan.
Reasons that a charter bus is the best way to go are:
- Safety is #1. Forget about city traffic and choose the nation’s #1 safest form of ground transportation — charter buses.
- Green travel is #2. When you travel on a charter bus, you’ve chosen the greenest transportation mode in the country.
- Affordable is #3. If you want to save on expenses, there’s nothing like bus rates and especially when everyone chips in.