Pitchfork Music Festival Will Not Return to Chicago in 2025

Today, Pitchfork announced that its annual music festival will not be returning to Chicago in 2025, marking the end of a two-decade run the outlet had with the city. “This decision was not made lightly,” the site wrote in a statement. “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.”

Pitchfork continued: “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. Thank you to At Pluto and the rest of the hardworking Festival team whose dedication and creativity were the backbone of every event, and to the broader community whose spirit and support made the Festival a truly unique experience. And thank you to Mike Reed for founding the Festival and for your inspiring vision.”

Pitchfork captained the first-ever Intonation Music Festival in 2005 and, in the years since (except for 2020), have held their own festival in Union Park. After Conde Nast laid off a large portion of the site’s staff earlier this year and folded the publication into GQ, it became clear that the Pitchfork infrastructure many of us have come to revere was beginning to crumble. In the months since, the suits have made some suspect decisions, including booking Black Pumas as a festival headliner and reducing the number of reviews published daily on the site. Conde Nast’s push for a VIP ticketing build-out was a questionable pivot, as well. According to Semafor‘s reporting, one Conde Nast senior vice president in charge of events “made the outlandish suggestion that Pitchfork could juice ticket sales by reuniting Oasis or the White Stripes.” While the site has not confirmed whether or not Pitchfork Music Festival will return at all next year, the writing was on the wall for such a decision.

While Pitchfork has indicated that this decision in no way reflects the editorial future of the brand, the loss of the festival is still a momentous loss, especially for the Midwest. Even at its lowest points, Pitchfork Music Festival was a beam of light for those of us unable to access the premier events on the coasts or in the Southwest. We’ll be closely monitoring where Conde Nast elects to take the brand next.