More than 90 bands will be performing during the three-day festival held Sept. 19-21 in Douglass Park.

After 10 years as the 35th Ward alderperson, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is moving to a different office: superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District.

The rock festival will announce this year’s lineup on April 23 with tickets going on sale that day, according to festival organizers. The three-day festival, celebrating its 20th anniversary, will be held Sept. 19-21.

It’s a Chicago music story for the ages. In 1983, four friends aged 11 to 15 years old formed a punk band and played the Cubby Bear and a few other shows before amicably breaking up — basically the oldest kid wanted to tour, but the youngest was told that he had to finish 6th grade.

The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners approved a special event permit for Riot Fest on Wednesday, a decision that did little to bridge the divide between residents of Lawndale who welcome the fest and those who want to oust it from Douglass Park.

After a dramatic announcement two months ago that Riot Fest would be relocating to suburban Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium, the music festival has pulled an about-face and will be returning to Douglass Park Sept. 20-22, pending Park District approval, the Chicago Park District announced Wednesday.

Riot Fest has announced it’s leaving its longtime home in Chicago’s Douglass Park and is setting up RiotLand in Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium for the 2024 event, set for Sept. 20-22.

State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, says since profits from events go to the Chicago Park District’s general operations fund, the financial gains from Riot Fest don’t help his constituents directly. He has proposed a 2% community benefits tax.

Riot Fest received permit approval from the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, over the objections of opponents who’ve campaigned for more than a year to keep the festival out of Douglass Park.

The Foo Fighters, The Cure and Death Cab for Cutie are among the headliners announced Tuesday by Riot Fest. Whether they’ll take the stage is still up in the air.

Opponents want Riot Fest out of Douglass Park, but supporters of the festival say it has been an asset to the North Lawndale community.

A new policy gives Park District commissioners final say over permits for so-called “mega festivals.” It received its first test Wednesday.

On Wednesday, commissioners unanimously approved an amendment to the Park District’s code that gives members of the board the final say on permits for large-scale events held in the city's parks.  

The latest damage comes after the park has been used for three massive Chicago festivals this summer: Summer Smash in June, Heatwave in July and Riot Fest this past weekend. Riot Fest alone brings some 40,000 attendees to the park each day.

An amendment has been proposed to the Chicago Park District code, which, if approved, would insert commissioners into the permit approval process for events drawing more than 10,000 attendees. 

Where some see the return of Riot Fest as a step in the right direction for Chicago’s reopening, others say closing their neighborhood green space for a “riot for rich people” is a “slap in the face” to communities traumatized by COVID-19.