ChicagoFest: The Navy Pier Festival That Packed the Lakefront (1978–1983)
Sixteen stages, two weeks, about 100,000 people a day on Navy Pier. ChicagoFest was the summer party of the late '70s and early '80s, until politics and a boycott ended it.
Long before Navy Pier was a Ferris wheel and souvenir shops, it was home to the biggest summer party in Chicago: ChicagoFest.
How it started
ChicagoFest began in 1978 under Mayor Michael Bilandic. It ran for about two weeks every summer at Navy Pier, then a mostly unused pier stretching into the lake.
The setup was huge: around 16 stages, each sponsored by a national brand and a radio or media sponsor. Rock, blues, jazz, country, pop, comedy, all running at once. At its peak, ChicagoFest drew around 100,000 people a day.
Mayor Byrne's ChicagoFest
When Jane Byrne became mayor in 1979, she at first wanted to drop the festival, which had been Bilandic's. Instead she kept it and made it bigger. It became "Mayor Byrne's ChicagoFest."
The boycott
In 1982, the festival got caught up in city politics. After Byrne named white members to the Chicago Housing Authority board, replacing Black members, Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a boycott of ChicagoFest. Headliners Stevie Wonder and Kool & the Gang canceled.
The boycott became part of the story of the 1983 mayor's race, which Harold Washington won.
The last year
In 1983, ChicagoFest moved to Soldier Field. It lasted one more year. The company that ran it went bankrupt after the 1983 festival, and ChicagoFest was over.
What came after
- Taste of Chicago, which started in 1980, became the city's big summer festival.
- Navy Pier was rebuilt and reopened in 1995 as the attraction it is today.
- Lakefront music festivals, from Blues Fest to Lollapalooza, picked up where ChicagoFest left off.
Were you there?
If you went to ChicagoFest, you probably remember a show that would cost a fortune today, for the price of one ticket. Got photos or ticket stubs? Send them in.
Sources (2)
Wikipedia: ChicagoFest · Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library: ChicagoFest (State of Sound exhibit)
Photo by 858265 on Pixabay.