A few weeks have passed and while many may still be recovering from the madness, or having post-depression, crew members have cleaned up the remains of Spring Awakening.
As we may know, Hoffman Estates was home to this year’s festival. This came after React Presents had issues with 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas in 2018 when announcing that Spring Awakening was going to take place in Douglas Park. This led to various months of suspense questioning whether or not there would be a festival this year. In the end, React Presents partnered with Hoffman Estates officials to have the festival take place outside the Sears Centre Arena.
Prior to the official announcement, rumors were floating around on Reddit mentioning the Hoffman Estates location. Once announced, many were skeptical and wondered if the new location was going to top off Soldier Field and Addams-Medill park.
Now that the fest has passed, the location has received positive responses from the community. With this new location being bigger than the other two locations, React Presents had the ability to get creative with the festival layout. The Solstice stage and the free water were this year’s hot topics.
Despite the hiccup on day one, when the Solstice stage was closed for a couple of hours, the production was top-notch from the stage design, in part because of the amount of space Solstice had this year, to the sound.
The other three stages were more a bit compact which introduced some sound bleed. This being noticeable during quieter sections of a set. The Equinox stage was not as eye-catching as 2018’s curved layout though it was still pleasant for visuals.
Getting to the festival from the Chicago area was a bit of a drive and while many complained that the walk to the fest was a hassle, nobody could deny the fact that this years festival was a lot of fun.
Now that festival season is in full swing, it might be a little early to begin thinking about Spring Awakening 2020. However, the possibility of having the festival at the Hoffman Estates location next year is very likely. Mayor Bill McLeod of Hoffman Estates is happy with the way Spring Awakening turned out this year.
