Wicker Park Fest

The only thing differentiating this from any other crap street festival in this city is the typically somewhat excellent music lineup. They usually get legit bands and for a $ 5 – 6 donation, it seems like a bargain. Saw Deafheaven this past year and they were pretty killer and again $ 5 admission wasn’t bad.
Otherwise, these street festivals seem like contrived bs excuses for people to drink outside (which you could do anyway on a patio). The usual hipster wares are being hocked from booths which are just representing nearby stores that sell the same stuff. The beer was Lagunitas and $ 6 a cup which wasn’t the worst. The food seemed like a rip and nothing seemed remotely enticing that you honestly couldn’t get otherwise. There were tons of drunk and/​or obnoxious teenagers which made it suck because I feel I can at least handle drunk and/​or obnoxious people my own age (and people give you such disparaging looks when you knock out a few teenagers… I don’t get it).
Return attendance will be based solely on the music lineup and less on the need to get constantly elbowed while walking and drinking slightly overpriced beer.

I love Wicker Park Fest! always ALWAYS great musical line-up’s every single year. This year I got to finally see Veruca Salt and it was a dream come true. So first and foremost thank you for that WPF.
There are always plenty of vendors to sell you beer or other refreshing beverages as well as wacky antics going on. We can’t forget the bucket of french fries!
I absolutely love checking out all the arts and crafts tents.
This year they had a DJ on some sort of contraption that spewed out endless bubbles! and I mean, come on who doesn’t love bubbles?!
Only downside every year is how crowded it is, but on the plus side it just means they are doing something right. I look forward to returning next year.

I enjoyed the music, lot of arts n crafts tents to check out, was cool.
Bands were decent.
Was very crowded at one end of the festival, traffic jam trying to exit out at the end of the crowded area.
Other than that, I enjoyed my time there.

Absolutely huge street festival compared to others. There was such a variety of people! 3 different stages but not much variety in terms of food vendors. I wish there were more local Wicker Park booths.
Instead of buying alcohol at the tents, head over to Walgreens and buy your own! But no open drinks because you know… the law.

I always judge a street fest by musical performers (or free popsicles)… Wicker Park Fest always has a great variety of music that I’m excited to see.
Having been to Taste of Randolph and an Evanston street fair, most of the vendors were similar. It was pretty muggy when I went, and it was great that there were so many air conditioned stores to wander around when I was waiting for bands to go on.

I was working as a volunteer at this event and from the inside looking out it looked like so much fun. I hate I didn’t truly get to experience this event with friends enjoying the music and food that was all around me.
I watched as the crowd grew and grew… I would say come early so you can get an idea on what you want to do while you are there.
I like Festivals and I had never heard of this one before… I would volunteer again but I would also make sure I had a day to enjoy with my friends.
That is one thing about Chicago there is always something to do and if this Festival doesn’t do it for you… you can find something else in Chicago that can be well worth it for you.
Enjoy!!!

Complete garbage.
Too crowded.
Stupid kids lying in the street high and/​or drunk.
Bought a $ 6 schnitzel from some food tent. Was half-​pink inside. Brought it back, they said it was ok. No, poultry should not be half-​pink.
No other real food options around. Cevapcici stand is not awesome; it is at every festival in a 50-​mile radius selling overpriced breakfast sausage.
Took 20 minutes to get out of the fest in a dangerous bottleneck of people. That should not have happened. I think I got to second base with some sweaty hoodrats behind me.

Great music, great food and good people. As if there wasn’t enough things to do walking down Milwaukee Ave, adding in 3 stages, more food and more booze makes it even better.
Almost all the bars and stores were having specials so even if you didn’t want to just stand in the street, there were multiple places to sit down and get some cheap food. Managed to catch a really good Reggae set on Sunday. I just wish I got the band/​musicians name.
Till next year!

Awesome chevoppachichi !

Free admissions (there’s a suggestion donation at the door).
I think I liked this festival for the sole fact that it was at night. I’ve been to a handful of summer festivals in the daytime and it’s just miserable.
Wicker Park Fest embodies the Chicago festival scene: lots of young people having a good time with tons of restaurants and stores to visit (they’re open late).

The Wicker Park Fest is one of many festivals held in the city throughout the summer. This one is not much different from the others except that it has a large amount of bands performing throughout the day. It also brings that Wicker Park feel with new urban art projects that involve live action, usually actors/​artists dressed in costume while performing. Many little vendors, food and beer. Donate your $ 5 and walk through Wicker Park to see what it is all about.

If you’ve been to one city summer fest, you’ve been to them all, right? Well that’s true with a dash of falsity thrown in.
Wicker Park has a lot of the same food vendors that pop up at all the fests, a lot of the same vendors, sadly not too many that are unique to WP. Truly a shame when Wicker is full of amazingness.
Pro-​Tip: Do not waste your hard earned money on the cheap, crappy beer at the stands. ALL of the bars & restaurants that are on the main drag have specials going on for the fest. I was able to get good quality craft beers for the same price or less than the MGD/​Bud Light shizznit at the stands.
Holy goodness it’s crowded! It gets even more crowded as the sun sets. Thankfully my friend and I had grabbed a perfect seat inside the High Noon Saloon to watch the 9pm concert, but we really felt for the sea of people right outside the barrier of the wall. There seriously was no room for these poor people to walk or even itch a nose. My advice if you’re going is to plan accordingly. Grab an indoor seat as dusk sets in and enjoy yourself instead of being suffocated to death by human flesh.
That being said, the music at Wicker Park Fest was awesome! Festivals are filled with cover bands and don’t get me wrong, I love ‘em, but we discovered a fabulous indie band at night.
My favorite part of the evening was chilling out listening to Man Man (quite possibly my new favorite group) inside of the High Noon Saloon. We met some friendly people inside, had amazing craft beers, were able to hear the music through their huge open windows/​wall plus my friend and I got hit up by guys 7 years younger than us so that’s got to count for something right?

I only made it to Sunday night of Wicker Park Fest, but it was my favorite fest year to date. Lots of great vendors/​booths, loved the sangria and Dimos pizza! (Check my Dimo’s review to learn more about my love for Dimos).
Really though, being new to Chicago I have only attended a few fests and haven’t been overly impressed with them so far, but I did enjoy this one! Great music and a great display of the community and shops/​restaurants around the area.
I really enjoyed how big this one was, I feel like a lot of the other ones I have been to are really small and narrow compared to this Wicker Fest.

I won’t lie; evening fests are fun. This fest however, is starting to lose its sparkle. The crime rate, traffic & excessive policing required to keep the peace of this fest makes it less desirable for us 30 somethings. This has always been a more 20 somethings environment but it now it’s exclusively that. I’m definitely passing on this one this year.

One of the top fests in Chicago every year, for the crowd watching, music and the neighborhood; all uniquely distinguished in this neighborhood as opposed to the more generic and interchangeable components of the other street festivals in neighborhoods of lesser character. Warning: very crowded, younger and drunker, especially later in the day. If you are only doing a few festivals this is a main one to hit.

OH yeah. i popped mah wp-​fest cherry this year. i tried to be amongst the hipsters last year, but it was too hot and crowded.
…aaaand it goes a little somethin’ like this:
came in on a sunday. partied. ms. moneybags here bought some rustic jewelry among other things — made it rain. thinks she’s a hot shot now. got buzzed off-​a sangria. ate more cevapcici (3^rd time this year, thanks) and sat on the sidewalk while some old dude hit on her and her blonde friend. observed some peeps in a plastic bubble, one was a housewife cleanin’ the bubble with a mop. went into some stores, made it rain some more. dogs be barkin’ bc she was wearin’ wedges.
…hit it!

The Wicker Park of poetry slams, real dive bars with old timers talking about all the old Polish clubs up and down the block are gone for good. The Wicker Park of Wrigley-​ville guys, Suburban kids shopping on the street at stores that used to be at the mall, and eating establishments owned by investment bankers and corporate lawyers have taken over. Well, that is the way it goes. It can’t be helped. Anything that was cool, becomes mainstream within 10 years.
So, take Wicker Park Fest for what it is. It is a huge drunk fest. This place is full of young kids on X, and old folks slamming drinks and I loved it. It was raw, silly, and the place was full of good looking people trying to beat the heat by wearing very little. What’s not to like about something so trashy? I love flashy and trashy and I got what I expected.
I met some friends who were here to see the rising band Company of Thieves. I had been to a party the night before at a loft in the West Loop and saw some of the band members playing jazz which was amazing. I did not know who that band was until I realized that about half of them were on the sage as Company of Thieves. Great show!
I had fun, and really enjoyed all the flash, trash, and exposed midsections (thanks girls), and somewhere I hope someone lit a candle to the Wicker Park of Polish immigrants, drunks, poets, artists, and graduate students slumming. Those days are gone, but I remember them and have to say that Wicker Park Fest is the biggest, loudest, and wildest of the street fests in Chicago. Way to go.

Proof yet again that Dubstep ruins EVERYTHING!
Wicker Park fest what happened? The difference between last year and this year can only be contributed to the Dubstep music on the bill. Whether you love it or hate it (I’m somewhere in the middle), you can’t deny the fact the immense popularity brings out drones of idiots. I’m not going to make this a Dubstep bashing review. IMO it’s just as popular to bash it as it is to love it. What bothers me are the kids who listen to it. Young. Stupid. Rude. Degenerates. They flooded Wicker Park fest on Saturday and ruined the experience for me and maybe the festival. I sound like an old hag. I promise I’m not. I love festivals and music and people. Just not dubsteppers; they are a new breed of as*hole.
Last year was awesome! We had room to breathe, walk, drink and eat listen to good music. This year was so crowded you couldn’t walk a foot without some sweaty shirtless guy or 15yo in a Deadmau5 shirt bumping into you yelling WOMP! Beer and Sangria were my only savior. Maybe I could tune these idiots out if I was drunk enough. Oh the ATM’s are down? You only take cash? F*ck this I’m out!
I would rather deal with a festival full of Hipsters than Wompsters. Bring the old Wicker Park fest back!

Dear god, what a mess. To me, there were two bright spots — (some of) the bands and the volunteers (very pleasant all the way around).
El Ten Eleven played a great show, mixing in new and old stuff and creating some great sounds for only being two dudes with no laptops. Also, Murder By Death played Sunday, which I wasn’t able to see, but I was told it was fantastic. I caught a couple minutes of an all female band Saturday night that sounded good as well, but I don’t know them yet.
But I’ve never been around such a disappointing group of people. Ever. Disappointing because I’ve never seen so many lazy, inconsiderate, immature, and purely stupid people in my life and unfortunately, they are the youth. No, I don’t want to move away from the curb and not be able to see the stage so you can sit your lazy ass down and smoke a bowl. And no, dub step is not new composition. It’s house music from 20 years ago slowed down with sampling from today’s music.
So in summary, a star each for some bands and friendly volunteers. Zero stars for everything else.

I want to go back, to 2010 and earlier. Michael G.‘s review sums up Wicker Park Fest perfectly, as it was in the past. Wicker Park has been in extreme transition in the past decade to becoming «Liquor Park», where Lincoln Parkers and suburbanites have decided to come to slum and get wasted; and this crowded sweaty Fest confirms that the transition is sadly, complete.
I had the great pleasure of seeing up and coming Chicago band, Company of Thieves rock out with heart and soul on a side stage. I even enjoyed a DJ at the East Stage, and the beer lines were pretty quick. But this Fest is just a hot mess, and one I’ll remember to avoid in the future.