Chicago – Spring Awakening, Chi-Town’s largest EDM festival, drew an estimated 80,000 fans to its new home at Poplar Creek in Hoffman Estates, a northwest suburb, this past June 7-9.
With over 80,000 dance-music lovers making their way to the expanded festival grounds, the soundtrack to their weekend was curated by more than 90 DJ/artists performing on five unique stages with one of the most diverse lineups you’ll see throughout the summer. The 8th annual event was produced by local outfit, React Presents.
While Spring Awakening provided a bevy of interactive art installations and carnival rides for fans, it was the music that took center stage – and all the major genres were represented. For those who fiend for guttural bass beats, Ghastly, Zomboy, HeRobust, Dion Timmer, Rusko, and Crankdat unleashed their fury. Looking to get your dance on? Dom Dolla, Malaa, Nora En Pure, and Chris Lake had festival goers moving and grooving all night long. Want headliners? Top talents like Illenium, Zedd, Kaskade, Dillon Francis, REZZ and DJ Snake delivered the goods.
Also, a dozen America’s Best DJ nominees played at SAMF. They included Audien, Crankdat, Destructo, Dillon Francis, Flosstradamus, Gabriel & Dresden, Ghastly, G Jones, GRiZ, HeRobust, Illenium, and Kaskade. It all looked like this:
