Music festival stage names are either random (Uranus at Sasquatch!) revelatory (Bonaroo’s This, That or That Other) or respectful (Perry’s after the Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell). This year, the punk-rock powered Riot Fest is doing something very, well, punk rock by letting festival goers name a stage. The two-city music festival and carnival is holding a contest with the help of RedEye in Chicago and Westword in Denver to give fans the chance to have a stage named in their honor.
You can choose your own name, nominate a friend or get creative (Ivana Shart, now that’s punk rock). Oh, did I mention that the four finalists will be given 2 V.I.P passes to the two-day festival? The winner will have a photo op on the stage they named and 4 V.I.P Passes?
To enter, all you have to do is write an essay telling them a little about yourself, what music means to you, who are your favorite bands, what is your favorite festival memory. Basically, why Riot Fest doesn’t suck. That’s not that hard to do considering that headliners include the original Misfits lineup, Rob Zombie, Nas and Julian Marley (son of Bob) whose gonna make daddy proud by performing Exodus in its entirety. Essay you say? Relax. You don’t have to write (Catcher in the Rye — that’s a book BTW). The essays should be about 200 words so just pick one of the questions above to answer.
You will be judged on enthusiasm, creativity and capturing the essence of Riot Fest. All submissions must be received by 12 PM on 8/15. The finalists will be announced on or before 8/17/16, and then they will open it up to the public to vote and pick their favorite. A winner will be announced on or before 8/24/16. For the official rules go here.
