The organizers, including Cole, admitted that they were a bit behind and things were not quite ready yet due to “uncontrollable” circumstances, which was the storm that almost destroyed the festival. Fortunately, it did not it was just a minor setback to an incredible weekend. This is something that might have set the tone for the weekend. But the Summer Smash team came together and worked around the clock to rebuild. The Summer Smash site sustained significant damage, art installations got destroyed, and the festival was ready to cancel and send out the bad news.
On June 13th the city of Chicago was hit with a supercell thunderstorm with winds un to 85mph. This was due to unpredictable circumstances. Summer Smash event coordinators told people to arrive early, then told people to arrive later, then had people still waiting on allowing people in because they were not ready. The lines to pick up tickets were long, it was 90 degrees, and people were a bit frustrated. On day 1, Friday, June 17, arriving at the festival was a bit chaotic. Summer Smash Photo Credit: Rafael Avcioglu Main Stage. The festival hosted 90,000 guests overall. It was my first year at the event, but it was clear that Summer Smash had built a following similar to RollingLoud (a massive global hip hop festival in Miami). Thousands flocked to the grounds this weekend for the festival. Located on the west side of Chicago, there were hometown performances from 20 Chicago acts including Polo G, G Herbo, Lucki, Famous Dex, and Tink Femodot, along with special guest appearances from Quavo, Takeoff, Cordae, Cochise, Queen Key, and NFL star Antonio Brown. He is also a top-level music video producer and the founder of Summer Smash, now in its fifth year and one of the largest showcases for hip hop. Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival is hosted by Cole Bennet, a business entrepreneur and owner of the Lyrical Lemonade brand.
The premier hip hop music festival in the Midwest returned on June 17 to Chicago’s Douglas Park with over 75 artists, three stages, and more installations and vendors than ever before. Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival: RECAP