Each spring, Grassroots Chicago looks forward to more than the warm weather.  Festival season is the most exciting part of our summer months and it’s almost here.  With music, food, art, and friends, we literally can’t wait to hit the road, kick off our shoes, and enjoy the summer sun!  Wondering what fests to hit in the Midwest this year? Take a look at our Summer line up including our favorite artists and venues that we'll be vending at!  We're stoked to see you all on the road!  

Think your outfit is killer? Use hashtags #gsproutgang, #grassrootschicago, and #grassrootscolorado this summer while festing to show us your Grassroots styles in action!  Don’t forget to pace yourselves, drink plenty of water, and take care of each other.  Happy festing!  

Peep Our Sched!

May

 If it’s Memorial Day Weekend, everyone knows the place to be is Summer Camp Music Festival.  This is perfect way to mark the beginning of summer!  Just two and half hours west of the city, attendees flock to rural Chillicothe for the 3-4 day camping music festival.  Summer Camp targets jam band audiences, specifically fans of Umphrey’s McGee and Moe. However, Summer Camp is an incredibly diverse music festival, offering EDM, hip-hop, rap, bluegrass, and more. The festival has over 7 stages for guests to access including “The Red Barn”, a stage for exclusive late-night sets by headliners and special guests.  Summer Camp is devoted to the arts; featuring live-art galleries, workshops, and surprise pop-up installations around Three Sisters Park. Summer Camp is also eco-conscious, encouraging guests to recycle and partake in “green” activities. In return, guests who participate in the green “Scavenger Hunt” will earn entrance to an exclusive “Everyone Orchestra” set.

 Umphrey's McGee playing their new album, "It's Not Us" at Park West in Chicago. PC: Niki Graham

In the past, Grassroots California designed official Summer Camp hats and this year will be no different! In addition to the official merchandise, we have collaborated with a ton of artists on this years lineup, such as resident bands, Umphrey’s McGee, it’s bassist, Ryan Stasik, and Moe. Tipper, a producer known for Trip Hop and Glitch Hop, will be performing this year.  One of his most famous visual artists, Android Jones, has also done many collaborations with Grassroots.  Although he won't be at this Tipper set, we highly recommend checking that set out! Funk and Rock band, The Motet, as well as poppin’ glitch-hop legend, Opiuo, are more two artists we are proud to have worked with, and are looking forward to seeing live at Three Sisters Park.  Our great friends Ellie Paisley, Aaron Brooks and Vincent Gordon will also be joining us at our booth with art and merch for sale throughout the weekend!  

Aaron Brooks, Ellie Paisley, and Vincent Gordon: 3 Grassroots artists who will all be at Summercamp this year!  PCs: Grassroots Photography

Grassroots California has officially vended the fest since 2010 and plans to return this year, so come say “hi” to our team and check out a bunch of new Grassroots merchandise.  The days are still cool and the dust gets a bit rowdy, we recommend a pair of our fresh leggings and our psychedelic facemasks to help keep you covered throughout the weekend.  Need to stay warm at night while heading to Moonshine or coming back from the Red Barn? Get yourself one of our bear patch or reversible hoodies.

Our models wearing our Space Program hoodies, Snapback and Dad Hat, perfect for festival season! PC: Grassroots Photography

Can’t make the trip or commit to 3 or 4 days of Scamp?  Perhaps one day at the Speedway is a better alternative for you!  Indy 500 Snake Pit is located at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and hosts a banger of a tailgate! The event celebrates the Speedway’s open season on Race Day, Sunday, May 27th! Not only do attendees experience the excitement of race day with 33 race cars speeding to finish first, the pit is transformed into one helluva rage stage featuring some of EDM’s hottest artists and acts.  This year, fans will be treated to an incredible line up. We’re most excited for one of our favorite artists, Griz, to take the stage this year. House artists, Axwell ^ Ingrosso, Canadian producer Deadmau5, and Mad Decent owner and heartthrob, Diplo, will also be performing live at the race track. We certainly hope Diplo will make it to Summer Camp later that day ready for round 2 and his Red Barn set!  Trying to take your tailgating look from 0-100? Slide into the #1 hottest looks with our shorts, women's crop tops and coaches jackets!

Not even two weeks later, local festies get a second dose of all things electronic at Spring Awakening! Starting as a concert series in 2008, Spring Awakening developed over the years into a 2-day event at Soldier Field in 2012, and is now a full-scale, 3-day music festival in Addams/Medill Park! Spring Awakening is known for EDM and is solely about the electronic scene. With artists such as Big Gigantic, NGHTMRE, Kaskade, Deadmau5, Alison Wonderland, and Minnesota performing this June 8th-10th, Grassroots is all jazzed up for this function! We’re especially stoked for Zeds Dead, who partook in a Meet and Greet Pop Up at the shop last year, selling their own art in the Movement Gallery, and painting a mural down the street.  We’re also looking forward to seeing Ganja White Night, another artist we’ve hosted at our Chicago location. 

Hooks of Zeds Dead poses with his "Z Hands" in front of his own mural behind Grassroots Chicago.  PC: Grassroots Photography

Spring Awakening is certainly a party not to miss, but don’t over do it!  Our Chicago team will be vending and vibing all weekend long so stop by our tent in between sets!  Wondering what to wear to any of this soirees?  Grassroots has you covered!  Check out our newest Spring and Summer collection featuring straw hats and the newest mix-and-match bear patches for our hoodies, hats, and more.  Else, reppin Chi-city with our Chicago Love line is always in-style and fashion forward, especially at Spring Awakening.  We also recommend supporting Electric Family by sporting one of our collab bracelets or the Electric Family hat!

June

Chicago’s street fests and local neighborhood events are a great way to spend the weekend without spending bank on tickets. Taste of Randolph, for example, brings all the goodness of a music festival and food festival right to Chicago’s West Loop! 6 city blocks transform yearly, filled with Chicago’s best food and local vendors. This year, the fest will take place from June 15th-June 17th, where you will find us checking out the sights and sounds while vending.  We were also psyched to hear about the official after-party at Bottom Lounge featuring Umphrey’s McGee’s Joel Cummins and Brendan Bayliss!

Brendan Bayliss (guitar) and Joel Cummins (keyboards) at the "It's Not Us" Album Release Party in Chicago.        PC: Niki Graham

Chicago’s lakefront is undoubtedly one of the number one highlights of the city, so putting a festival smack dab on the sandy beach sounds like heaven!  Summer sun never felt so good! Mamby on the Beach is a two-day music festival featuring house, bass, hip-hop and rock music this June 23rd and 24th. Grassroots will certainly be in attendance, barefoot, and getting our tan on!  Stop by to catch some shade, get some shades, or snag our newest merch while getting down on the beach! To stay cool while lookin’ fly, we suggest one of our mens’ tanks, our newest T Shirts.

Saturday Vibes at Mamby on the Beach 2017.  PC: Mamby on the Beach Press Photo

Located in Michigan’s forested Rothbury, Electric Forest is a legend in the festival scene. Two weekends of familial vibes, this festival is known for its music, food, and culture.  Roaming the festival grounds, the forest is filled with incredible art installations, mood lights, and live characters that will have you questioning reality and enjoying a vacation from the real world.  As for music, Manic Focus, Bassnectar, Rufus Du Sol, Bonobo, Zhu, The Glitch Mob, and more will be performing both weekends! We’re personally super stoked to catch Griz’s Live Band the second week, and if you like Cheese, this is the fest for you! The String Cheese Incident headlines with 2 sets both weekends of Electric Forest!  Speaking of cheese… this fest has your munchies covered for days! From Spicy Pie’s classic pizza slices, to custom grilled cheeses, and other delectables such as doughnuts, pretzels, noodles and more, the Forest will satisfy every foodies’ cravings. Grassroots has made a Electric Forest inspired line dubbed "Rothbury" as well as merch for artists Griz, Manic Focus, and Space Jesus who will all be performing this year. You can expect Grassroots to bring some heat with our new, official Electric Forest merchandise this year. Our team will also be vending both weekends. See you in the Forest!

Griz and Manic Focus gettin' silly at Griz' Meet in Greet at Grassroots Chicago, 2016   PC: Grassroots Photography

July

Infrasound is one of Wisconsin’s hidden gems. It is a small camping festival that provides a more intimate festival-going experience, which allows attendees to make deeper connections with each other and interact with artists more than usual. This festival is not just about the music, but features live art performances by artists and visionaries that we have collaborated with, such as Aaron Brooks and Alex and Allyson Grey.  The music at this fest is also incredibly diverse and the food is out of this world- shout out to Big-Ass Wraps!  Come spend July 19th-July 22nd with some of the most creative and original artists of our time at this special weekend away.

August

Lollapalooza is one of Chicago’s biggest and best. Hosted in our own Grant Park, the 4-day, urban music festival features top, sell-out artists from any and all genres, on over 8 stages. The festival caters to all populations, from the first-time concert goer, to families with young children. In addition to some of the best sounds of the season, Lollapalooza invites some of Chicago’s best restaurants to vend, selling foods such as classic deep-dish, lobster corn dogs, tacos, churros, ice cream, and more!  Lollapalooza also stages similar festival and concert series all over the world. While Grassroots will not be vending this, we highly recommend checking this fest out, or scooping our official Lollapalooza hats to sport while adventuring in the city this August 2nd-August 5th.  This is the perfect time to show your Chicago Love with our hats, pins, apparel and accessories.

Lollapalooza's Grant Park Stage is poppin' just as the sun goes down for Chance the Rapper. It was estimated over 400,000 people attended the urban music festival in 2017. PC: Lollapalooza Press Photo

Lovingly nicknamed “Summer’s Last Stand”, Chicago’s North Coast Music Festival is a 3-day music festival tucked away in the West Side’s Union Park from August 31-September 2nd.  Not only has Grassroots California designed official hats and merch for North Coast Music Festival, Grassroots Chicago has vended with plans to return this year. The festival is known for having great top acts from the rock, jam, hip-hop, and EDM genres. Artists such as Umphrey’s McGee, Bassnectar, Manic Focus, STS9, and Tipper have all made appearances at North Coast in the past and we’re itching with excitement to peek this year’s lineup!  North Coast also invites many artists to do live painting and murals throughout the grounds.  Kawaii Suga, a Chicago artist we've worked with this year was painted this last year and we hope she returns for Round 2!

Kawaii Suga's Mural painted live at North Coast 2017.  PC: Don Idio, NCMF Press

September

If you love to rock, you need to be at Riot Fest.  This three day concert series on September 14th, 15th, and 16th is hosted in Chicago’s Douglas Park.  The fest caters to the rock, jam, and hip-hop scene, featuring artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, and members of Wu-Tang Clan.  Grassroots Chicago was thrilled to be a part of the event vending and dropping our newest Method Man collection last year.  Were looking forward to see which artists are going to be rocking again this year!

Our booth at Riot Fest was lit. PC: Grassroots Photography 

October

When the summer sun sets and a fall moons rise, the good times are not over.  Freaky Deaky, the Midwest’s Halloween festival takeover, is an incredible event to take part in.  Originally, the fest was hosted an outdoor urban festival in Chicago, featuring artists such as Bassnectar and Gramatik.  Last year however, the fest became a concert series hosted at venues in Chicago, Milwaukee, Ann Arbor, and Detroit. Over the Halloween weekend, guests flocked to shows including Griz, Opiuo, and Ganja White Night.  While we’re not sure which location you’ll find us at quite yet, this is a fall fest we highly recommend to end your festival season proper.

Ganja White Night crushing their Chicago Origins Tour set at Aragon Ballroom. PC: Niki Graham