It's been nearly two years since Chance the Rapper decided to eschew Chicago's festival circuit for a summer and host Magnificent Coloring Day, a self-organized event that found the hip-hop hero headlining the home of the White Sox, with support from Alicia Keys, John Legend and some guy named Kanye West. The success of the sold-out fest seems to have emboldened Chance's event production aspirations—he's organized a young voter registration concert and parade, a couple of charity birthday parties and continued showcasing the talents of Chicago students at his monthly Open Mike events.
Last week, Chance announced that he's formed a formal event-production company, Social Function Productions, and will help organize a 50th anniversary celebration concert for Special Olympics, which were first held at Solider Field in 1968. The concert will take place at the Huntington Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island on July 21, beginning at 5pm. Much of the lineup remains a mystery, but Chance revealed that Motown legend Smokey Robinson, pop singer-songwriter Jason Mraz and alt-rockers OAR will perform.
The show poster that Chance tweeted leaves room for four more unannounced headlining acts that will likely be revealed in the coming weeks. It's not too much of a stretch to assume that Chance will be involved, even if he doesn't formally headline the concert—the only tour dates currently on his summer schedule are in August. Those with tickets to Pitchfork Music Festival, which occurs during the same weekend, will have to choose between seeing Fleet Foxes and the War on Drugs or leaving Union Park early to make the trek to Northerly Island.
Tickets for the Special Olympics 50th Anniversary Concert are on sale now, with prices ranging from $50 for lawn seats to $150 for general-admission pit tickets.
I’m happy to announce that my new production company SFP and I are producing the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics here in Chicago pic.twitter.com/NzKNGWImTn
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 14, 2018