What to know about the Chicago festival
Lollapalooza is back to Grant Park.
This year’s festival presents an impressive mixture of revolutionary acts and established favorites, with headliners like Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and Tyler, the Creator. It is also an exciting year for artists who have found their creative stride, from R&B power nominated to Grammys Durand Bernarr to the feeling of the sensation of Amaarae gender to mega-Raskout doechii, a hip hop superstar in manufacturing.
Here is what you need to know – including a daily look at the music festival.
Day 2: Olivia Rodrigo was the favorite of the Friday festival
Friday was Olivia Rodrigo’s day in Lollapalooza when the festival opened its doors for day 2 in Grant Park in Lakefront in Chicago.
Rodrigo is the T-Mobile Handbree header to close at night, at the opposite end of the Korn metal group on the Bud Light stage.
On Friday, there was a sea of purple signature from Rodrigo to T-Mobile at noon. Some of his most dedicated fans, many of whom carrying purple cowboy hats, made a duty to line up early to have the best view. Read more here.
Day 1: Tyler, the creator – and the first headliner country
Lollapalooza opened Thursday in Grant Park on Thursday for its four annual days of crowds and music, with a program through the Sunday of female artists – Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter are both headliners at the end of the day, with Gracie Abrams and Claire also among the first favorites of the crowd.
The official headliners for day 1 were Tyler, the creator and Luke Combs, who closed the night on the T-Mobile and Bud Light stages, respectively. Combs made the story of Lollapalooza as the first country music festival at the Chicago Festival.
At the main doors of Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive, the spectators got up with the sun to be the first in the entrance chutes before the festival opened at 11 a.m.
The brothers and sisters Jacob Fuentes and Sofia Pogue traveled from Texas; It was the first concert for Sofia, 13, they said. Tyler, the creator is his favorite artist. “I like a lot of music but I have the impression that I like the most (Tyler),” she said. Read more here.
The safety of crowds has not become more topical. How do people from Lollapalooza feel?
Lollapalooza can be considered a safe refuge – a place where music lovers will catch all their favorite artists in the same place. But with this excitement, crowds can inflate disproportionate figures for more popular artists, at a time when crowd safety has taken on a new feeling of importance.
Part of this awareness this summer is due to the documentary “Trainwreck: The Astromld Tragedy”, which was published on Netflix in June and quickly became popular. The documentary details the events that led to the boost that killed 10 people at the Astromld Music Festival of rapper Travis Scott in Houston in November 2021. Read more here.
Hybrid battery system to feed the main scene while more and more festivals kiss clean energy
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A worker from Grant Park on July 30, 2025 examines the hybrid battery system that will feed the T-Mobile scene during Lollapalooza. Hybrid battery systems like the one used in Lollapalooza can store energy from the electrical network and release it to power performance. (Eileen T. Meslar / Chicago Tribune)
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A worker from Grant Park on July 30, 2025 examines the hybrid battery system that will feed the T-Mobile scene during Lollapalooza. Hybrid battery systems like the one used in Lollapalooza can store energy from the electrical network and release it to power performance. (Eileen T. Meslar / Chicago Tribune)
Develop
For the second consecutive year, Lollapalooza will feed its largest scene with a hybrid battery system, marking a growing trend of renowned music festivals in transition from generators based on diesel.
When the Chicago Staple presented its hybrid scene fueled by drums in 2024, it became the first major American festival to fuel its main scene with a drum system, which completes the generators of the scene with the energy stored from the electricity network. This system has reduced fuel consumption of the scene by 67% and avoided 26 metric tonnes of carbon emissions, according to data from the festival organizers.
This year’s system will provide 1.5 megawatt of storage hours, the same capacity as last year. The system will feed the T-Mobile stage. Read more here.
Our choices for best music by day – and what should not be missed
What makes the lollapaloza of this year particularly convincing is its accent on artists who represent the future of their respective genres. Whether it is the sophisticated and descending evolution of Clairo on “Charm”, the innovative approach of MK.Gee with independent rock, or the emotionally resonant rupture hymns of the Marías, the festival promises to be a showcase for music that feels both contemporary and timeless.
Here are our choices for the best of the best. Read more here.
Lollapalooza expected to deliver a big weekend for hotels, even if international trips
The wave of visitors should keep most of the hotel rooms in the city center and many filled restaurants, a boost well necessary at a time when foreign tourists seem more and more reluctant to visit the United States
The operators of the Chicago hotel say that it has become one of the most important events in the city center, and this year could be the biggest of all time.
“The LOLLA range determines global success,” said Nabil Moubayed, director general of the Intercontinental of 792 rooms at 505 N. Michigan Ave. “The range of this year is very strong, so we see an exceptional demand. It is exciting for us and the market.” Read more here.
