UNION PARK — Following the announcement that Pitchfork Music Festival would not continue in 2025, concertgoers and fans of standing in large crowds were asking what would fill the hole in the schedule at Union Park. City officials have already announced the new event coming to Chicago: Pitchfork Festival, the nation’s largest gathering of farming equipment manufacturers.
“I haven’t heard about this music thing, but getting this space is a godsend for us,” said Michael Read, organizer of Pitchfork Fest. “We’d outgrown the Winnebago County Fairgrounds years ago. With Union Park as our venue we can devote a couple extra acres to tractor demos, folks go nuts for those.”
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Pitchfork Fest started in 2006 as an exhibition of the nation’s most exciting new independent agricultural tool manufacturers, and has steadily grown since. While some critics say the current slate is dominated by established names in the industry, most were excited about the relocation of the event.
“Sure they got John Deere and Mitsubishi now, but I think we all remember the first time we came to Pitchfork and saw the new concepts in farming equipment from up-and-comers like The National Tractor Co. and Arcadian Fire Suppression Systems Inc,” said Grayson Currin, a fan who has attended every Pitchfork, “That’s when we knew this gathering was different from the other farming supply manufacturer conventions.”
Organizers of the replacement Festival have promised to bring the same fun and excitement to downtown Chicago as the previous event.
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“It’s going to be different but not dissimilar,” said Read. “We got food, drinkin,’ dancin,’ just a different vibe, as the kids say. I mean, hell, our headliner is Tyler the Creator! I didn’t even know he was a music guy, I know him from irrigation solution message boards. Let me tell ya, he’s got some ideas about water rotation for soybean crops that are going to blow some minds.”
