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As Pitchfork Media has grown from a scrappy, indie-oriented webzine into a legitimate competitor to the old guard of music journalism, so too has the annual Pitchfork Music Festival evolved from a scrappy, indie-oriented alternative to Lollapalooza into one of the most important summer festivals in a city whose calendar is packed with summer festivals. It’s expanded from two days to three and grown into an international endeavor, establishing a satellite event in Paris and collaborating with established European fests like the UK-based All Tomorrow’s Parties and Spain’s Primavera Sound. The eighth Pitchfork festival (well, technically the 2005 installment was called “Intonation”) brings together a diverse lineup of 47 acts (indie rock, hip-hop, electronic dance music, punk, whatever it is you call Willis Earl Beal) who will perform to a total audience of more than 54,000—only a fraction of whom are the “hipsters” of popular imagination.
LOCATION The festival returns to Union Park, at the corner of Ashland and Lake; the main entrance is on Ashland between Lake and Washington, and there’s a smaller one on Washington, on the southeast side of the park.
BESIDES THE MUSIC Nonmusical offerings have expanded this year to include a Book Fort sponsored by Chicago publishing house Featherproof, which will sell the offerings of other indie presses (McSweeney’s, Drag City, Continuum) and host readings and panel discussions throughout the weekend. Also new is the Soundplay Arcade, where festgoers can play the five video games developed so far as part of Pitchfork’s Soundplay initiative, each inspired by a different song. The festival has also partnered with local gallery Johalla Projects to bring installations by Chicago artists Matt Hoffman and Andrea Jablonski to the grounds. Attendees looking for other ways to give their ears a break (or to entertain themselves during a block of programming that doesn’t suit their taste) can browse the American Poster Institute’s Flatstock exhibit, shop at the Chicago Independent Radio Project‘s CHIRP Record Fair, check out locally designed clothing, crafts, and furnishings at the Coterie marketplace, or have their pictures taken at the Reader tent for a shot at daily prizes and a chance to have their photos published in the paper.
