Riot Fest 2023: Day 1 – Huge Photo Gallery & Review of Music Festival

I have been wanting to go to Riot Fest in Chicago for almost a decade, since they also used to hold the music festival here in Denver. 2023 was the year! – and Bryan accompanied me too, purchasing a VIP ticket so he could just go and have a fun weekend.

Riot Fest is known for its eclectic mix of punk, rock, metal, and alternative music. This year was no exception. Riot Fest also includes attractions beyond music, such as carnival rides, art installations, and food vendors, enhancing the overall experience for festival-goers. The organizers are really creative, finding fun ways to make the festival memorable… like the opportunity to get married at Riot Fest, and the yearbook photo booth that results in a physical book that you can order and proudly display on your coffee table. (Exactly where we all put our yearbooks, right?)

I will admit I vastly underestimated how much walking I would do. The map is deceiving. We did about 18,000 steps each day, so I will plan better for shoes in the future – my bad, completely. Also, we’ll pay better attention to what each ticket level means, because Bryan did not fully read the details. Again, our bad. VIP did give access to nicer bathrooms and a separate food area with more seats – but there was no special upfront areas. That is with Deluxe and Deluxe + only. Having said that, trying to get in closer only really came into play for the really big acts at the end of each night. All the stages had really great sight lines from everywhere!

As for the music, Friday was a really special day. As you can see below, I was able to photograph some really iconic women in rock history. I literally had a “WHAT IS HAPPENING” moment in the middle of the day because everything was so incredible. We also had a terrific weather day, so – other than my cramped up tootsies – I couldn’t have asked for much more.

OK, sure, it would have been great to photograph headliners Foo Fighters, but they only allowed for a select few photographers. Which, in the end, made for a perfect ending of the day – because we got to dance with the thousands of happy people singing along with Dave into the night!

Riot Fest 2023 Day Two and Day Three coming soon.

Artists in this Photo Gallery: Pinkshift, Quasi, Parliament Funakadelic featuring George Clinton, The Wrecks, Kim Gordon, Ani DiFranco, The Breeders, Tegan and Sara, People of Riot Fest

Riot Fest 2023 – Day 1 Photo Gallery

Photos displayed in random order. Click any thumbnail for a larger version. Then use the navigation arrows (or your keyboard arrow keys) to move left and right through the photographs.

Riot Fest 2023 – Day 1 Lineup

See our other posts about music and travel!