The folks behind the scenes at Evolution Festival have spent the past two fests learning what works. Attendees opinions and needs when it comes to chairs, stages, food, access—they’ve heard it all. And they’re hoping to channel what they’ve learned into a successful third Evolution Festival this September 27 & 28.
The 2025 Evolution Festival boasts the biggest lineup yet, as well as new attendee experiences, greater accessibility, and a new designation that allows the fest to give back to the community it hopes to elevate.
Get a guide to the region’s booming music scene
Subscribe to the St. Louis Music newsletter to discover upcoming concerts, local artists to watch, and more across an eclectic playlist of genres.
The Background
Contemporary Productions president Steve Schankman has been producing shows in St. Louis and elsewhere for nearly 60 years. He’s had a hand in developing venerable venues across the region, from The Pageant to The Factory. So when former Forest Park music festival LouFest collapsed in 2018, Schankman turned his focus to a festival.
“We wanted to bring back something that is needed in St. Louis, which is a festival,” Schankman says. “We’re one of the biggest, if not the biggest festival between Lollapalooza in Chicago and Bourbon & Beyond in Louisville.”
The inaugural fest in August 2023 brought acts such as Brandi Carlile, Ice Cube, and The Black Keys to more than 25,000 attendees. The second iteration moved to a (hopefully) more temperate September date and expanded the lineup, the stages, and the offerings.
“You’re not going to build your whole dream home in one day,” Evolution co-founder Joe Litvag told SLM’s Steve Leftridge last September. “First you have to build a solid foundation, and that’s what we did in year one. Now, year two is the fun part. We start building the house on top of it.”
The building continues in 2025 with more acts, new ticket and pass options, and an expanded mission. Schankman says St. Louis needs to embrace its brand as a music city, and he hopes Evolution Festival, as it continues to grow, can be a part of defining that.
“Music is St. Louis,” Schankman says. “We are a music town. The brand is music.”
What’s New
Based on information gathered during the first two fests, Evolution Festival has created a few new attendee experiences and options for 2025. The Club Evolution package is a VIP experience that includes access to a large, private tent with complimentary food and a cash bar, a dedicated VIP entrance and restrooms, exclusive culinary and beverage experiences, and an elevated deck to view the main stage. The Pit passes offer guests exclusive access to a prime viewing area in front of the main stage, as well as access to Club Evolution and the dedicated VIP entrance and restrooms.
“You can buy a [Pit] ticket now in front of the stage, you can stay there all day, part of the day, for one act, whatever you choose, but that will give you access to the front of the stage,” Schankman says. “Now, that doesn’t mean that people who are VIPs won’t have that access. But this will be dead center.”
Fans are once again able to lounge in lawn chairs at Forest Park’s Langenberg Field this year, but the privilege requires a $7 chair pass. The pass is available as an add-on to Weekend GA and Weekend VIP passes and allows visitors to bring their own chair and grants access to the dedicated Chair Pass Security Lane. All proceeds from the Chair Pass will be donated to charity.
In addition to new offerings, Evolution Festival has made another major change. “We’ve become a nonprofit, so we’re able to take donations from organizations and companies and people who feel that we need to build the music and the spirit and togetherness for our community,” Schankman says. According to organizers, the fest’s new designation as a 501c3 nonprofit will allow them to “give back to the city in even more philanthropic ways than ever before.”
The Lineup
Contemporary Productions senior vice president and partner Jeff Jarrett is the brains behind the Evolution Festival lineup, which he likens to creating a “great mixtape.” That means offering a variety of artists from across genres, including seven acts with ties to St. Louis and the wider region.
“I really enjoy being able to curate a talent lineup for all the people to come enjoy,” Jarrett says. “I love it when people come for the headliners, but leave finding artists on the third stage or that play earlier in the day who become their favorite bands. That’s really important to me.”
This year, 30 bands will grace Evolution Festival’s three stages. Among the biggest names are Lenny Kravitz, Sublime, TLC, Father John Misty, Sam Fender, and local legend Pokey LaFarge. Thanks to Jarrett and Evolution, some of them will be visiting St. Louis for the very first time or for the first time in years.
“I look at the frequency of when a lot of these artists play. We have got some people, like Sam Fender and even Sublime, that have never played in St. Louis,” he says. “Public Enemy hasn’t been here since 2015. Same with TLC. And Father John Misty hasn’t been here since 2017. So for a lot of these acts, it’s been a while. It’s been five or six years—pre-pandemic—since they played in St. Louis.”
As far as the overall vibe of this year’s fest, Jarrett says that the lineup is unified under the umbrella of “bands that just write great songs.” That includes a mix of garage rock, punk, singer-songwriters, hip-hop, R&B, blues, and more.
“This is really kind of our musical love letter to the city,” Jarrett says. “Not only do we get to involve artists from St. Louis and from the state of Missouri, but we’re bringing in great artists that have skipped St. Louis, we have the opportunity to bring artists that people can enjoy. I think we’re really committed to curating this and putting a great product out there.”
Evolution Festival runs September 27 & 28 at Forest Park’s Langenberg Field (5595 Grand). Passes go on sale at 10 a.m. on April 10 at evolutionfestival.com.
