On a hot overcast day in Chicago, tens of thousands of fans made their way around Grant Park for the first day of Lollapalooza 2025, the city’s staple four-day music festival full of noise and attractions.
The festival, which will take place from July 31 to Aug. 3 this year, not only boasts an eclectic lineup of musical acts, from Korn and Cage the Elephant to Sabriana Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo, but also a robust selection of “Beyond the Music” booths and experiences for fans to check out while waiting for their favorite artists to perform.
This year, 46 experiences are available to check out all across Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain, including new areas such as the Airbnb Haven, Alexa+ Clubhouse, Heinz Sauce Stop Snapchat Tower, Kona Big Wave: Aloha Oasis and many more.
Returning favorites, such as Punk Rock Saves Lives, Soberside, American Apparel Tee Lab and Bud Light Backyard, were also scattered throughout the festival.
There were only 25 experiences in 2023 and 37 in 2024.
One new experience this year is Imagine Your Korea, a small building pressed up against the bushes located right across Buckingham Fountain.
Attendees lined up to fill out a survey and subscribe to the Imagine Your Korea YouTube channel to receive traditional Korean gifts. Right next to the booth is a table with traditional Korean games for attendees to play.
Grace Lee, originally from South Korea, was the manager present at Imagine Your Korea. The experience is through the Korea Tourism Organization, a government office in South Korea that aims to bring Korean culture to those who are interested in learning more about it.
Imagine Your Korea made its Lollapalooza debut at the festival in Berlin earlier in July, and is now in Chicago for the first time this year.
Thomas Nguyen, a Korean Los Angeles resident traveling with his three friends who were in line at the Imagine Your Korea booth, had never been to Chicago before and came out to Lollapalooza for the first time this year.
Nguyen said that the festival and experiences have been great and “real fun” so far. One of the main reasons he came out to Lollapalooza was for the Korean group TWICE and the international group KATSEYE.
“It all planned out perfectly, and we’re really excited for it,” he said.
Group of friends Julian Gutierrez and sisters Chelsea Paraggua and Sam Paraggua, who were also in line at Imagine Your Korea, came out from Rockford to attend the festival. This is Gutierrez’s seventh time and Chelsea and Sam Paraggua’s third time at Lollapalooza.
With a long festival attendance record under his belt, Gutierrez has noticed a difference in the crowd.
“Maybe I’m getting older, maybe that’s what it is,” he said.
Looking forward to seeing groups such as TWICE, KATSEYE and Matt Champion, Sam Paraggua views Lollapalooza as the “perfect opportunity” to see a variety of artists from different cultures.
“I like that there’s a lot of diversity,” Chelsea Paraggua said. “Especially because there’s obviously a lot of Latin music that’s around, and now having Asian music, it’s pretty cool.”
Peace Tea’s Mad Peaceful World, another new experience at the festival this year, was located in the shade near another new experience, Bonus Tracks. Peace Tea’s Mad Peaceful World included a colorful entry archway for people to enter through, along with free samples of Peace Tea products for attendees to try.
Leia Boehm, a Milwaukee area resident, is experiencing Lollapalooza for the first time this year and decided to come to the festival to see some of her favorite artists, such as Gracie Abrams, Role Model and Tyler, the Creator.
She was relaxing in the shade of the Peace Tea’s Mad Peaceful World area and was indulging in some of the free samples.
“It was really fun,” Boehm said about the experience. “We both have never had it before, so it was fun to try.”
One other new experience was the Venmo House, located near the Bud Light stage. Housed under the shade of nearby trees, this area included multiple booths for attendees to check out, such as a coffee bar presented by Drip Collective situated in the center of the area, a Charm Shop for people to make their own bracelets, an airbrush tattoo spa and a photo booth.
Anthony Barresi, creative director for Live Nation, was present at the Venmo House and said that the turnout so far was “solid” and that he was happy about the interpersonal connections being made at the experience, which he feels is important.
“Venmo pulled up in an unexpected way,” Barresi said. “They took over a moment, a community-building moment.”
Nikhil Dandekar, Sunny Desai and Laura Garcia, a group coming out from different parts of the country, were sitting in the shade of the Venmo House after a long day of walking around the festival, and solely came over to the experience for the shade and seating.
Desai and Garcia, who are from Maryland and have been to Lollapalooza five times now, have noticed a change in the experiences and areas included.
“It’s definitely different,” Desai said. “This Venmo House and stuff like that didn’t exist 10 years ago.”
Dandekar, who grew up in Naperville and now lives in Los Angeles, is attending Lollapalooza for the first time and looks forward to seeing Tyler, the Creator, and enjoying the rest of the weekend.
“I am way older than I thought I would be for my first Lolla, and it is awesome,” he said. “It’s only day one, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
Copy edited by Vanessa Orozco
