Theo Marchetti
Festival Director
Books the bill, walks every field at dawn, and still catches at least one full set a day.
Since the first encore
About the Festival
Ember Hollow Live began as a single sunset stage on the lakefront — and grew into three days, ten stages and thirty bands in the heart of Chicago.
A weekend Chicago built
Every August, historic Grant Park — between the downtown skyline and the shores of Lake Michigan — becomes a small city of music. Local crews build it, local kitchens feed it, and local openers share every stage with touring headliners.
We book for discovery: half of every year's bill has never played Chicago before, and the smaller tents are where tomorrow's headliners are found first.
- 120,000 fans across three days, with free water stations and shaded rest zones in every field.
- Forty independent Chicago kitchens in the Night Market — no chains, no repeats.
- A crew of 900 stagehands, engineers and volunteers — two-thirds Chicago locals.
The people behind it
Meet the Organizers
Grace Okafor
Operations Lead
Runs gates, water, waste and welfare — the reason 120,000 people move like 12,000.
Daniel Reyes
Programming Chair
Chairs the advisory board and curates the songwriter circle and late-night program.
Privacy, access & good conduct
We never share your personal information — newsletter addresses stay with the festival desk. The grounds are step-free with viewing platforms at every major stage, and our help desk answers within a day during festival season.
