Last week, Coachella dropped its 2025 lineup and, unsurprisingly, it sparked quite a bit of discourse. Echoing sentiments lobbed at Lollapalooza in previous years, many felt like Coachella’s three pop star headliners marked a shift away from the festival’s alternative roots. Luckily, there’s a festival in the Windy City that has dug its feet into the ground, remained independent, and kept the ethos of its founding days intact: Riot Fest.
The punk-leaning event celebrated its 20th anniversary this past weekend at Douglass Park in Chicago, boasting a pop punk holy trinity of headliners in Blink-182, Weezer, and Green Day, as well as an impressive undercard consisting of both scene veterans and exciting newbies. The whole shebang was certainly grander in scale than Riot Fest’s earliest editions, but its spunky core remains — RIOT FEST SUCKS, as they say. Acts like The Effigies, Alkaline Trio, Smoking Popes, Bad Religion, and a host of others were even ripped right from lineups of Riot Fest’s past; say what you want about punk rockers, but if Riot Fest has proven anything over the past two decades, it’s that they’re remarkably consistent.
With a deep lineup, an everlasting spirit of rebellion, and the final payoff for years of John Stamos jokes, this year’s edition was a celebration to be proud of. Better yet, it was a celebration that was damn fun to take part in.
For those looking to relive the three days of festivities, or who missed out on all of the hoopla, here’s everything that went down at Riot Fest 2025 (plus, scroll on for a photo gallery of action shots).
