On the final weekend of the summer, Chicago’s Humboldt Park hosted the city’s eighth annual Riot Fest, the punk-, rock-, and hardcore-filled festival that has since branched to Brooklyn, Toronto, and Dallas. This year’s installment was special for more than its consolidated location in the park; it also boasted a brand-new carnival — featuring a Ferris wheel, funnel cake, and impossible-to-win prize games — to enjoy between sets.
ALARM contributor Lucy Hewett was on hand to document the weirdness and wildness and snap some of our favorite Riot Fest performers: GWAR, Andrew WK, Coheed and Cambria, Dropkick Murphys, Rise Against, Reverend Horton Heat, NOFX, and Elvis Costello & The Imposters.
Sadly, Alkaline Trio, Gogol Bordello, Iggy & The Stooges, Minus the Bear, and Cursive proved too elusive for our lenses.