“Never have I ever -- been to Lollapalooza!” That is, until this summer! I bought tickets with my group of friends for our newest festival adventure and with every detail they continue to release I get more and more excited.

Lollapalooza takes place at Grant Park in Chicago, IL over four days, August 2 - August 5, 2018. The festival boasts a totally packed lineup with the festival open from 11 am to 10 pm each day. Yes, that’s right 10 pm. I’m a grandma now and this makes me SO HAPPY (says the girl coming from watching the sunrise at EDC two nights in a row).

The festival ends earlier than many because it is in the city center, but fear not, those of you who are just not ready to go to sleep yet have the opportunity to purchase tickets to concerts throughout Chicago to continue your experience. I, on the other hand, will be headed to bed each night so I can prep for the subsequent day.

Since this is my first Lolla, I’ve been trying really hard to learn as much as I can about the festival before attending. For me, the music is forefront at this event, but there’s also tons more going on (obviously) so I want to make sure I’ve done my research so I don’t miss anything.

Photo Courtesy of Katrina Barber / Lollapalooza 2017

Lollapalooza has been going on since 1991, and since then they have always had initiatives at the event for its 100,000 attendees to learn more about the world around them. I am obsessed with making the world a better place (shouldn’t we all be?) and I just love how every festival has some similar and some very different ways of approaching this. Last year, Lolla hosted Black Lives Matter activists, a bone marrow donation, and a group that urges attendees to register and then go out and vote. I can’t wait to see who is coming this year, and I’ll be sure to provide you with article updates as more information is released.

As far as the music goes, Lolla hosts eight stages with 170+ bands from around the world. I feel like they’re constantly announcing new artists too (heyyy Carly Rae Jepsen!). I’m getting excited about the lineup by building my schedule in their app. It’s the easiest way to get organized. Here’s the full lineup, and I’ve put in red who I really want to check out.

There’s obviously a mix of genres at Lolla so there’s something for everyone. What’s also awesome is that they sell single day tickets, so if you’re trying to ball on a budget you have the option of just hitting the festival for one day!

Since the festival is in the Windy City, I’d be remiss to not mention how Chicago is obviously super famous for their food. The other weekend at a bar I met some guys who were from Chicago and I told them I was going to Lolla and that this is my first time to Chicago. They quickly went into how I need to eat my way through all the delish food the city has to offer. They literally gave me recommendations on nothing else besides food which I think is awesome!

They made me a huge note in my phone of places to check out, and it turns out some of these spots are actually going to be at the festival which makes it super easy for me! There are over 30 different local restaurants that will have food available for sale. Lolla promises reasonable and not overpriced fare, so I’m super excited to check out multiple spots. Top of my list (from my bar friend’s suggestions as well) are Harold’s Chicken, Kamehachi, Original Rainbow Cone, Tank Noodle and Windsor Ice Cream Shoppe. I’m seriously gonna start packing lunch for work now to prep for this!!

So to wrap up this article ('cause I mean, we’re a pretty far in now, kudos to you), I wanna just cover some other important basics of Lollapalooza from the FAQ page that I found super helpful:

• You can bring 2 factory sealed bottles of water (1 liter each) into the festival
• You can only bring sunscreen if it is a bottle, no aerosol containers
• No totems!
• There’s a No Bag Express Lane option at security for faster entry
• Ticket holders are allowed to re-enter the festival 3 times per day after initial entry, make sure to scan out!
• At the end of the night, additional exits are opened towards Michigan Ave at Jackson or Balbo
• Locker rentals are only $60 for all 4 days! 
• You can go cash and cardless by adding money to your wristband, link to do so not available yet

There are still some tickets available for sale, including verified Lollapoolza resale tickets directly on the Lolla site. If you’ve got kids, any under the age of 10 are allowed for free and have access to a special section called Kidapalooza.

If you really can’t make it to the festival, they’ve partnered with Red Bull TV again this year to bring you the Lolla Live Broadcast. The lineup of which artists will be broadcast will be released on August 1st, and the videos will be streaming from the Lollapalooza homepage. I love watching live streams when I can’t go to an event, and even more fun is planning a “No-Festival” themed party around it. Create your Facebook event now for “No-Festival: Lollapalooza Edition”, invite your friends over, tell them to dress accordingly, and stream the music from the comfort of home!

More posts to come about this awesome event as more info is released. Who will I see there?