Pitchfork Music Festival cancelled after 19 years

Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, US, will not take place in 2025 after 19 years of operation.

The American music magazine confirmed that the long-running event won’t be returning next year in an official statement, citing the rapid evolution of the current music festival landscape.

“As the music festival landscape continues to evolve rapidly, we have made the difficult decision not to host Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2025,″ the statement read.

“This decision was not made lightly. For 19 years, Pitchfork Music Festival has been a celebration of music, art and community – a space where memories were made, voices were amplified and the shared love of music brought us all together.

“The festival, while aligned with the taste of the Pitchfork editorial team, has always been a collaborative effort, taking on a life of its own as a vital pillar of the Chicago arts scene. We are deeply grateful to the City of Chicago for being our Festival’s home for nearly two decades, to the artists who graced our stages with unforgettable performances, and to the fans who brought unmatched energy year after year.

“Thank you to At Pluto and the rest of the hardworking Festival team whose dedication and creativity were the backbone of every event, and to the broader community whose spirit and support made the Festival a truly unique experience. And thank you to Mike Reed for founding the Festival and your inspiring vision.

“Pitchfork will continue to produce events in 2025 and beyond”

The statement concluded: “Pitchfork will continue to produce events in 2025 and beyond. We look forward to continuing to create spaces where music, culture, and community intersect in uplifting ways – and we hope to see you there.”

The Pitchfork Music Festival has its origins in 2005’s Intonation Music Festival, which saw local promoters Skyline Chicago recruit Pitchfork Media to curate their inaugural event at Chicago’s Union Park. Though Intonation would return in 2006, Pitchfork Media split to create their own event under the Pitchfork Music Festival name.

Over the years, the festival has featured headliners including Animal Collective, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Slint, Björk, Wilco, A Tribe Called Quest, the Isley Brothers, and more. This year’s event took place in July and featured Jamie xx, Alanis Morissette, and Black Pumas as headliners.

Pitchfork has also held international events in Paris between 2011 and 2022; in London from 2021 to 2023; Berlin in 2020 and 2022; and a lone event in Mexico City this year.

The news of the festival’s demise arrives months after parent company Condé Nast announced staff layoffs as the website was absorbed by another Condé title, men’s magazine GQ.

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