The Ultimate Guide to Lollapalooza Festival 2017
Lollapalooza. Chicago’s own Woodstock twenty-six years running and one of the best places to catch the titans of music playing alongside little fishes, has-beens, and up-and-comers. The line-up this year is chock full of fantastic acts with Lorde, The Killers, Chance the Rapper, and Arcade Fire each taking a turn to rock center stage from Thursday to Sunday, not to mention 100+ other bands all competing for your precious time and eardrums.
This year’s Lollapalooza will be hosted August 3rd to 6th in Grant Park in Chicago, its traditional home since 2005.
Ticket Types
If you are looking into buying tickets for the upcoming festival be aware that there are three different way to enjoy the great line-ups: General Admission, VIP, and Platinum.
General Admission tickets can be bought for the entire weekend, called the 4-Day GA Ticket, or you can choose to buy a single day ticket to let you into any one day of the fest. Having a general admission ticket buys your way into the festival itself and that’s about it.
It’s a no-frills experience, but as long as you get the hear the music who cares! These tickets will run you a manageable $335 for four days or $120 for a single day, plus around $60 in fees for purchasing them online.
If you want to step things up a notch, VIP is the way to go. For a cool $2200 for four days or $650 a day, plus a $62 fee, you can treat yourself to a package that includes viewing platforms for shows, air-conditioned restrooms, catered food, golf cart shuttles, spa treatments, and more. This is the classic lavish festival experience, and well worth the money if you can afford it.
VIP is nice, but if you want to take things to the next level get ready for Platinum. These tickets are a whopping $2,800 a day, or $4,200 for four days. Purchasing these tickets will net you all the benefits of the VIP level plus complimentary catering at all times, Platinum level viewing areas at every stage, special hospitality lounges, and a concierge service for Platinum-only members.
While this is the absolute premium way to experience Lollapalooza, the stiff price means that only those with the highest level of disposable income will be able to cash in on the benefits.
These three ticket packages represent the more than 400 thousand tickets sold at Lollapalooza in 2016, with at least that number expected to attend this year. Tickets annually go on sale starting in late March, with the festival itself usually kicking off late-July to early-August.
Platinum and VIP tickets are still on sale directly through Lollapalooza, but unfortunately, General Admission passes have sold out for the year. Fear not and keep reading, however, as we will cover the ways you can still get general admission tickets for the upcoming festival.
Alternate Ways to Get Tickets
The remaining Lollapalooza tickets for sale are being offered on all the traditional third-party ticket sites such as StubHub for fairly reasonable rates. The average cost of a general admission ticket on these sites is $361, which is only an additional $25 on top of the original sale price. Most would consider this a small price to pay for being late to the ticket-buying party. On top of these more regulated sites, it’s always a good idea to keep your eye on
On top of these more regulated sites, it’s always a good idea to keep your eye on eBay and Craigslist as the festival approaches just in case a few last minute tickets show up. Buy at your own risk though, as these sources provide you with no way to get your money back if you end up being scammed.
If buying directly from other concert goers is more your vibe, Lollapalooza is partnered with ticketsnow.com to encourage fans who have extra tickets or are no longer attending the festival to sell their precious passes to each other.
While this has the benefit of being run by Lollapalooza themselves and guaranteeing that your tickets will arrive in time for the festival, prices on this site are considerably higher than on third-party ticket selling sites with an average four-day pass costing at least $371 before fees and taxes.
There is another way to get tickets to the festival. If one is brave, daring, and a little bit lucky they may try and enter one of the many ticket giveaways running right now to win their way into a set of wristbands. Lollapalooza itself has been running a number of contests and giveaways as the big weekend approaches and is currently partnered with Refinery 29 and Society6 in a fantastic opportunity for one lucky winner.
The giveaway includes two 4-day GA passes, $1,000 flight credit, a four-night hotel stay, $500 in swag credit, and special access to Alina Baraz’s set. This promotion ends on June 17th, so enter as soon as you can on the Lollapalooza website to secure a chance at this big win!
In addition to Lollapalooza’s sponsored giveaways, a number of third-party organizations are using the festival tickets to drum up publicity for themselves. DO312, the Chicago offshoot of the popular website to find exciting events in your city, is also running a two 4-day GA ticket getaway. While you won’t receive anything other than the tickets if you are the winner, this is still a great chance to nab a spot at Lollapalooza 2017 for you and a friend.
Other sources of possible tickets include local radio stations such as 103.7 KISS in Wisconsin and others. It never hurts to call up your favorite stations and check to see if they are running similar promotional contests.
If you are planning on buying (or winning) tickets for Lollapalooza, keep in mind that your wristbands will ship 2-4 weeks prior to the festival and should arrive at least 72 hours before the festival begins. If you do not get your tickets in the mail by then, you are encouraged to call the Lollapalooza organizers directly!
Ticket Specifics
Once you receive your coveted wristband pass to Lollapalooza in the mail it’s important to keep in mind several important pieces of info about them. Tickets for the festival are not refundable or transferrable so once that wristband hits your wrist you are locked into however many days at Lollapalooza it’s good for.
You are encouraged to activate your wristband before you get to the festival. Doing this will get you quicker assistance at the festival grounds if there are any issues, allow you to link a credit card to your wristband for cashless payments, and protect your hard-bought or hard-won investment from scams. Lollapalooza will send out a link to activate your wristband a few days before the festival kicks off.
If you want to surprise your many, many friends and take them with you to Lollapalooza keep in mind that any one individual can only buy six tickets. This policy extends to the official resale site but not StubHub or any other third-party ticket vendor.
Written By Kate Mark
Kate is a mid-lifer who quit a growing corporate career to reawaken her passions and her lifelong dream of traveling the world.
