Dillo Day


Dillo Day is an annual all-day music festival at Northwestern University that takes place at the end of spring quarter on the Lakefill. Started in the 1972/73 school year, it is organized by Mayfest Productions, a Northwestern student group, and is the largest student-run music festival in the country. Northwestern lists Dillo Day as one of its most notable traditions.

History

The festival has its roots in May Day, or Mayfete. Mayfete was a time when students would celebrate the "renunciation of the May Queen of the temporal world for a spiritual one," according to a 1951 history of the event. Although little is known about the early days, May Day was originally a celebration of the women of Northwestern. The crowning of the May Queen was the central event, and the pomp included a Maypole dance and cotillion. May Day expanded to May Week in 1946 to accommodate a women's sing, men's sing, and an honors ceremony.
Armadillo Productions was created in 1972 by two students from Austin, Texas, to honor the official animal of their home state and a concert venue there. They held a “I Don’t Think We’re in Kansas Anymore” festival and fair that had costumes, games, a treasure hunt, and special events. It was held every year until 1976 when it was cancelled due to weather and financial difficulties; but returned the following year as Armadillo Day. That same year, a 10-day assortment of campus programming called Mayfest began, which included Armadillo Day, Greek Week and A&O's Spring Festival. The first outdoor Mayfest concerts were produced by A&O featuring Robert Gordon 5.22.81 and Muddy Waters 5.23.81, staged on one lakefront stage and offered at no cost to students. Mayfest Productions eventually formed from A&O Productions, producing the Saturday concert event on the shores of Lake Michigan that is known today as Dillo Day. Mayfest Productions, like A&O previously, has earned a reputation for booking major industry artists, and is annually one of the largest and most competitive clubs at Northwestern.

Organization

The festival features a main stage, second stage, food trucks, beer garden, and Dillo Village that hosts art from students and Chicago-area artists, as well as various other games and activities. Dillo Day is open to all Northwestern University students, faculty, and staff. Students are each permitted to bring one additional guest, and a limited number of tickets are reserved for purchase by Evanston residents and Northwestern alumni. The second stage is curated in partnership with an additional campus organization-- currently Northwestern's Black student alliance, For Members Only, who has provided Dillo Day with a historic all-Black lineup on the stage for the past 3 years. In addition to Dillo Day, beginning in 2016, Mayfest Productions hosted annual Battle of the Bands and eventually Battle of the DJs competitions in the weeks leading up to the festival. The winners of these respective events perform on the main stage of Dillo Day that year.
On May 30, 2020, Mayfest Productions hosted Digital Dillo, a virtual replacement for the annual music festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those within the Northwestern community received a link to a livestream where they could watch live artist performances and participate in Q&A sessions with them. The following year, Dillo Day was held as a hybrid festival. This once again featured virtual artist performances and live Q&A's, but also had in-person components across campus the entire week of the festival similar to the original Mayfest. This included Mayfeast, a collection of food trucks outside Deering Library; Mayfit, a thrift shopping event at Norris University Center; Dildo Day, a variety of sex/body positivity events; student art installations on the Lakefill where the festival is traditionally held; a silent disco outside Norris featuring Chicago area DJ's; and screenings of artist performances on and off-campus.

Past lineups

1981
  • Robert Gordon
  • Muddy Waters
1983
1988
1993
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
  • Common
  • Broken Social Scene
  • Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
  • Third Eye Blind
  • The Cool Kids
  • A DJ set by Northwestern University alumnus William Butler, member of Arcade Fire
  • A DJ set by Flosstradamus
  • Clash Gordon
  • DJ Sicarii
2009
  • N.E.R.D
  • Estelle
  • Tally Hall
  • Mike Posner
  • The Decemberists
2010
  • Regina Spektor
  • Guster
  • Practical Tactical
  • Rhymefest
  • Super Mash Bros
  • Nelly
2011
  • B.o.B
  • Chiddy Bang
  • New Pornographers
  • N.A.S.A.
  • Kill the Noise
  • Guns & Sons
  • Peter Bjorn and John
2012
  • Cold War Kids
  • Kendrick Lamar
  • Reel Big Fish
  • Big Boi
  • Steve Aoki
2013
  • Walk the Moon
  • Danny Brown
  • Smash Mouth
  • Lunice
  • Wiz Khalifa
2014
Main Stage
  • Chance The Rapper
  • 2 Chainz
  • Ryan Hemsworth
  • OK Go
  • Cults
WNUR x IndieU Stage
  • Tink
  • The GTW
  • Sirr Tmo
  • Teen Witch Fan Club
  • RUNNING
2015
Main Stage
  • Charli XCX
  • Odesza
  • Miguel
  • A$AP Ferg
  • Saint Motel
WNUR Stage
  • Sicko Mobb
  • Cakes da Killa
  • Ben Aqua
  • Archie Powell & The Exports
  • K Rizz
2016
Main Stage
WNUR Stage
Battle of the Bands Winner
2017
Main Stage
  • MGMT
  • Gramatik
  • Little Simz
  • DRAM
  • Porches
WNUR x Nongshim Stage
Band & DJ winner
; 2018
; Main Stage
  • Young the Giant
  • TOKiMONSTA
  • Whitney
  • Joey Bada$$
  • Daniel Caesar
; WNUR x Nongshim Stage
  • Cupcakke
  • Dos Santos
  • Violence
  • Jasmine Infiniti
  • Guerilla Toss
; Band & DJ winner
  • Wop St. Bass Ritual
  • EJ3
; 2019
; Main Stage
; FMO Stage
; Band & DJ winner
  • FIZZ
  • Luminosity
; 2020
Note: due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no student acts during the 2020 livestream.
; Main Stage
; FMO Stage
  • Azjah
  • Yung Kaygo
  • Mir Fontane
; 2021
; Main Stage
  • Playboi Carti
  • Ken Car$on
  • KAYTRANADA
  • beabadoobee
  • Omar Apollo
; FMO Stage
  • Blxst
  • Brittney Carter
  • Brandon Banks
; Band & DJ winner
  • Wes Park and the Blueberry Boo Boo Babies
  • Sydco
; 2022
; Main Stage
  • Dominic Fike
  • Tinashe
  • Sean Kingston
  • Remi Wolf
  • Cochise
  • Vicetone
; FMO Stage
  • Taylor Bennett
  • Kari Faux
  • Scorey
  • Jordan Hawkins
; Band, DJ, and Rapper winners
;2023
; Main Stage
  • Offset
  • TiaCorine
  • Briston Maroney
  • RINI
  • J.Worra
; FMO Stage
  • Lil Kayla
  • BIGBABYGUCCI
  • Zeph France
  • Blvck Svm
; Battle of the Artists Winners
  • DJ Lu
  • Muse etc.
  • Tavern
2024
Main Stage
FMO Stage
FMO Student Artists
  • Ciel McDaniels
  • TiggyBouf
  • KenDu!
Band & DJ winner
2025
Main Stage
FMO Stage
  • Giift
  • Skaiwater
FMO Student Artists
  • Murichu
Band & DJ winner
  • Inertia
  • Perl