ChicagoFest

ChicagoFest
ChicagoFest at Navy Pier
Status	Defunct
Genre	Music Festival
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	Navy Pier (1978–82) Soldier Field (1983) Chicago, Illinois
Country	United States
Years active	1978–1983
People	Mayor Michael Bilandic

ChicagoFest was the world's largest music festival sponsored by the city of Chicago, started in 1978 by Mayor Michael Bilandic that reopened Navy Pier resulting in the venue becoming Chicago's leading tourism destination. It was held annually at Navy Pier for two weeks. It featured sixteen separate stages, each sponsored by a national retail brand and a media sponsor compatible to the stage's format, e.g. Rock WLUP, Chicago Tribune Jazz, Miller Brewing Company Blues and WXRT, that broadcast live from the festival. The stages were: Rock, Classic Rock, Country, Blues, Comedy, Roller Disco, Pin Ball Arcade, Jazz, Children's, Variety, Ethnic, as well as a Main stage seating 30,000. There were approximately 600 concert performances by headline artists produced each year.

Some of the hundreds of superstars that appeared over the years were Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Doobie Brothers, Carole King, George Burns, Chicago, Willie Nelson with Waylon Jennings, The Blues Brothers, Bobby Vinton, Journey, The Commodores, Kool and The Gang, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Charlie Daniels Band, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Aretha Franklin, Ben Vereen, Dick Clark and Muddy Waters and a live TV broadcast of Bozo's Circus and productions for HBO and PBS.