Pitchfork Music Festival has announced that, after 19 years of calling Chicago home, it will not host an event in the Windy City in 2025.
“As the music festival landscape continues to evolve rapidly, we have made the difficult decision not to host Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2025,” organizers said in a statement on Monday.
“This decision was not made lightly. 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,” organizers added.
The Chicago iteration of Pitchfork Music Festival was the flagship event of Pitchfork’s offline events and had been touted as a major revenue driver for the company. However, Chicago has long been a competitive market for music festivals, with rivals such Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, North Coast, and Sueńos all competing for a share of the market in the summer months. Like many media publications, Pitchfork and its parent company, Conde Nast, has also faced significant economic uncertainty over the past year, driven by decreased traffic due to the rise of AI and shifts in algorithms. Earlier this year, Pitchfork’s editorial arm experienced a series of layoffs as part of a broader restructuring implemented by its parent company, Condé Nast.
Pitchfork said it will continue to “produce events in 2025 and beyond.” The publication and its parent company, Conde Nast, has hosted festivals in London, Paris, Berlin, and Mexico City in recent years.
Nineteen years of music and memories. Thank you, Chicago. pic.twitter.com/SmNEXHwKiV
— Pitchfork Music Festival Chicago (@pitchforkfest) November 11, 2024