(WTTW News)

Chicago’s embattled music festival scene has lost one of its premier events, at least for 2025.

Pitchfork announced Monday it had made the “difficult decision” not to host Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2025.

“Nineteen years of music and memories. Thank you, Chicago,” Pitchfork Chicago posted on social media.

The 2024 Pitchfork Festival closed out in July in Union Park, with headliners Alanis Morissette, Carly Rae Jepson and Black Pumas among others.

Questions remain as to whether the cancelation is limited to 2025 or whether Pitchfork Chicago is gone for good. And what does this mean for other Pitchfork music fests in London, Paris and Mexico City?

When asked for comment, a Pitchfork spokesperson pointed WTTW News to the PR team at Condé Nast, the media conglomerate that purchased Pitchfork in 2015. 

Reps for Condé Nast did not immediately respond to WTTW News’ query.

Devastated fans filled the information void by blaming cost cutting at Condé Nast — which placed Pitchfork magazine under the GQ umbrella and laid off staff at the music publication back in January 2024, as reported by the New York Times.

Others pointed fingers at disarray within the city of Chicago, while still others pointed to a struggling market for music festivals in general. 

The loss of the fest is being felt by musicians, as well.

The band Pelican, which got its start in the early 2000s playing gigs at Chicago venues including Fireside Bowl, immediately shared on social media: “Just heard that Pitchfork Festival Chicago is on indefinite hiatus. Jet-lagged fresh off a flight from Tokyo, we were the first band at the first year (then called Intonation Festival) & have always appreciated their dedication to highlighting and elevating local Chicago music.”

Here’s the complete statement from Pitchfork:

(Pitchfork)

Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 |  [email protected]