Windy City Smokeout 2019 — Country Nights & City Lights

Chicago is quickly competing for one of the best festivals in the nation. I attended this festival a few years ago while it was much smaller and under a bridge, and was so impressed by how much they have stepped up the size, venue, vendors and line up in the last few years. It has grown exponentially and now holds the size of the United Center and a half.

Pros-

Even though it is in the United Center Parking lot, they open the doors to the inside to let festival attendees use the bathrooms and cool down. I am a huge fan of any festival that does not require porta-potties. It was also sweltering and humid during the day with limited access to shade, so having a place to sit inside in airconditioning was a lifesaver.

Twenty food tents with the best bbq from across the US line the aisle leading up to the stage and are just as tasty as they smell. It was like going to a tasting fair, you could sample all the best barbeque, but they also had dessert stands and other kinds of food as well.

They also had over twenty-five beers to choose from as well as hard liquor. I thought for a festival it was decently priced. A happy hour Bud Light in the big can was four dollars, and at night it was eight.

They had lots of places to take pictures and lots of places to hang with your friends between sets, with seating and cute photo ops.

Cons-

The access to the stage is limited with a good part being fenced off for artists friends/radio/media etc. This means you need to sit in the sun all day and stake a place out early to get close to the stage and when the place fills up chances of making it to the bathrooms which are far or to find friends and try to get back to your spot is close to zero.

The VIP wristbands were nice because they gave you an elevated platform to watch the show and private bar and bathrooms, plus shaded areas but I was disappointed the first two nights didn't include stage access as well.

Saying all that, VIP wristbands would still be my recommendation. We tried GA the first night and it was a nightmare. Trying to meet up with people and fight through the crowds was not fun and the lines for the bars and bathrooms when it is full can take up to an hour.

The only other con was the United Center is not located in the best neighborhood, so you need to be careful getting there and leaving. Uber's and taxis were charging crazy rates, so there weren't any great options for people without cars.

Overall though I think they killed it with their line up, food stands, accessible entrance and how fun they made it. I definitely plan on going next year.