Chicago Celebrates Birthplace of House Music with Four Days of Free Workshops Performances and Panels

(IN SHORT) The 2025 Chicago House Music Festival and Conference runs August 21–24, offering free community-focused events celebrating the city’s role as House music’s birthplace. Highlights include an opening night conference with panels and dance workshops at the Chicago Cultural Center; masterclasses and outdoor DJ sets in Grant Park; a daylong multi-stage festival and dance summit in Millennium Park; and a riverside wind-down on the Chicago Riverwalk. Presented by DCASE with corporate and foundation partners, the festival pays tribute to genre pioneers while showcasing emerging DJs, dancers and cultural innovators. Accessibility accommodations, including ASL interpretation, are available upon request by August 18.

(NEWS) CHICAGO, 2025-Aug-7 — /Travel PR News/ — Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is set to host the 2025 Chicago House Music Festival and Conference from August 21–24, offering four days of free public programming across Millennium Park and downtown venues. The festivities begin August 21 with a Chicago House Music Conference and Cultural Center Open House at the Chicago Cultural Center, featuring panel discussions on community, creative process, nightlife culture and music marketing alongside dance workshops and live DJ performances. On August 22, SummerDance in Grant Park will showcase daytime masterclasses in the Cultural Center’s Dance Studio followed by evening DJ sets by Vince Adams and DJ Lil John outdoors.

The weekend’s centerpiece on August 23 returns to Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion and three additional stages for a full-day celebration that includes youth workshops, the Chicago House Dance Summit and performances by genre pioneers and rising stars such as Andre and Tony Hatchett, DJ Pharris Thomas, Tyree Cooper and Ralphi Rosario. The festival winds down August 24 with “House on the Riverwalk,” a relaxed afternoon of grooves along the Chicago River featuring DJ Jerome Baker and Julio Bishop. Presented by DCASE with support from Millennium Garages, the Chicago Transit Authority, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and the Millennium Park Foundation, the event honors Chicago’s global impact on House music and spotlights the next generation of artists.

For the full event lineup and additional information, visit ChicagoHouseMusicFestival.us