West Fest Weekend

By Veronica Murtagh in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 10, 2009 5:20PM

Another weekend. Another street fest. This weekend the annual West Fest closes off Chicago Avenue between Damen and Wood for two days of live music, kid and pet festivities and even an outdoor fashion show. The antithesis of the chaos formerly known as Ribfest, West Fest is the one street fest we can always count on for a relaxing afternoon.

West Fest is the essential street fest for electronic music fans. A stage dedicated solely to DJs makes West Fest unique, with equal parts electronic and rock performances. The weekend's lineup does not disappoint with sets by local clublife darlings Willy Joy, Mark Gertz, Zebo and Million $ Mano. Headlining slots for the weekend are slated for DMC champion DJ Craze on Saturday and Chicago house bigwig Derrick Carter on Sunday.

The rock-centric main stage of West Fest features 15 acts throughout the weekend, with Local H headlining Saturday's lineup and the blues-influenced Red Red Meat closing the festival Sunday evening. Our top picks for the weekend include the 30+ member circus punk marching band Mucca Pazza, 7-piece psych-pop outfit The 1900s, and the always special, often overlooked chamber pop of The Aluminum Group.

A free bike valet, crafts, music and activities for the kids, and the chance to get Fido washed for $10 for a good cause round out one of our favorite street fest's weekend offerings.

West Fest runs from noon to 10 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. The full music lineup, including set times, can be found here.