Summer Smash or a food fest? : The Scorpio Experience and On the Grid

By: Brenda Leyva & Diana Morales

Summer Smash is back, and this year it’s bigger than ever. From June 20–22, the biggest hip-hop festival in the Midwest is taking over SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview and it’s already looking like the event of the summer.

The lineup is stacked with artists we’ve had on repeat all semester. Don Toliver and Yeat are kicking things off with a never-before-seen joint set on Friday, Future headlines Saturday (with Sexyy Red and Soulja Boy turning up too), and on Sunday, Young Thug makes his long-awaited return to the stage plus Chicago’s Chance the Rapper is pulling up.

Official Lineup

This year, Summer Smash announces the 2025 Food Lineup! With 30+ vendors this year, this means that there will be more options, flavors & more reasons to not leave the festival for lunch (no re-entry)

We have our returning vendors coming back including:

• Chkn Box

• Harold’s Chicken

• Portillo’s Hot Dogs

• The Tamale Guy

• Bacci Pizza

Now, we also have new spots including:

• Etc. by Chef Lamar Moore

• Cafe Tola, El Taconazo Express

• Crumbl, Prince Street Pizza

Starting off we have Bacci Pizzeria which is a total classic at festivals, their huge slices are for sure a great way to energize during the day and enjoy a delicious slice of pizza. A new one that sounds refreshing is Bobalicious, with a super diverse menu including shaved ice, elotes, ice cream, and of course boba, this’ll be a spot to hit if you want a sweet treat or snack! Up next is Café Tola a cafe that serves yummy empanadas (vegetarian and meat-based as well) a feature of theirs is their specialty lattes like the Horchata one and Spicy Mango Lemonades, so if you’re looking for a handheld quick bite or something sweet stop by!

The Summer Smash Restaurant

They also brought back the Summer Smash Restaurant, where artists create custom meals for the festival! The full menu will be coming up soon, but if it’s anything like last year, it will be selling out fast!!

Below is the full list of all vendors!

UIC Radio looks forward to trying and enjoying food from these different vendors!