Chicago's premiere dedicated electronic music festival, Spring Awakening Music Festival, has decided to raise the age restriction for the festival this summer and every one going forward. It will no longer be an all ages festival and will only accept 18+ consumers. The festival takes place at Solider Field each June, this year occurring June 13-15. In an email blast to subscribers and media announcing ticket pre-sales and the upping of the age restriction, React Presents, the promoter for Spring Awakening made the following statement (via The Chicagoist).
"SAMF truly appreciates the support from our younger fans, but we believe the festival is an experience for adults," the email asserted. "This difficult decision was made to promote safety amongst our fans and ensure the best experience from our attendees and future attendees. We encourage everyone to attend the festival when they reach the appropriate age."
This is becoming a common trend for festivals to install 18+ or even 21+ age restrictions at their festivals in the electronic music scene. After a spate of deaths due to drug overdoses over the past few years, festivals are looking to show that they are willing to try and curb irresponsible behavior by creating an older, in theory, more mature crowd. The decision to do this was made last year by Electric Zoo who raised their age limit to 18 and Ultra Music Festival made the same decision for 2015. All ID&T events (Mysteryland, TomorrowWorld and Sensation) have been 21+ since their installation in the United States.
This is front and center on the conscious of React Presents, after an 16+ event they hosted featuring Skrillex in Chicago this fall that resulted in 16 hospitalizations.
In addition to the new age restriction, the SAMF has announced that limited pre-sale tickets are on sale now. Starting at $169, plus taxes and fees, the festival is not nearly as pricey as other three-day electronic music festivals like Electric Zoo, Ultra Music Festival and Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas that can run you up to $400 for the full three days.
