If you‰’re like me (a Midwestern music nerd) the title “Pitchfork Music Festival‰” is bound to catch your attention. Located off the west side of Chicago‰’s Union Park, Pitchfork’s past lineups have held many big name musical artists, including Vampire Weekend, M.I.A., R-Kelly, Bjork, and many more. While this year‰’s Pitchfork line up is not entirely set in stone, the three announced headliners include chill guitarist Beck, the newly resurrected 1990‰’s Neutral Milk Hotel, and Pitchfork veteran Kendrick Lamar.

Besides hosting many big names Pitchfork is a time to test your musical boundaries, with a whole stage filled with many unfamiliar artists. The Blue Stage, although smaller then the rest, offers a more personal experience to the audience as many audience members come an arms length from to touching the stage. The Blue Stage has also been home to many past up-and-coming artists like Kendrick Lamar, who only a few years back was just another face in the Pitchfork line up.

Besides the Blue Stage, the Red and Green Stages host bigger name artists and headliners. Many past well known performances have included Foxygen, Cut Copy, TV on the Radio, and many more. These two stages are large in size and often conflict with each other when audiences begin to gather. It is smart to get to a headliners stage at the very least an hour before they are scheduled to go on, so make sure you have friends in company and plenty of “sun screen bottles‰” to keep you busy.

While performers run by strict schedules at Pitchfork the weather unfortunately does not. They say, “If you don‰’t like the weather in Chicago just wait five minutes‰Û, and that is completely true. At times Union Park will look like a dry desert filled with sun burnt grass and other times it will look like a huge orgy of grass clippings and mud. Weather is a huge game changer in Chicago and at Pitchfork so don‰’t worry about bringing too much to endure the elements.

Single day tickets are $60 and three day tickets $130. Purchase ticket here.

2014 Pitchfork Line Up So Far

Friday, July 18th Sharon Van Etten, The Haxan Cloak, Death Grips, Factory Floor, Sun Kil Moon, Giorgio Moroder, & Beck

Saturday, July 19th Wild Beasts, The Julie Ruin, Circulatory System, Ka, DIIV, The Range, Pusha T, Mas Ysa, tUnE-yArDs, & Neutral Milk Hotel

Sunday, July 20th Slowdive, Grimes, & Kendrick Lamar