Beyond Wonderland had an impressive run at Northerly Island, and it recently announced an expansion to Chicagoland Speedway.
Beyond Wonderland Chicago is a festival that has continued to evolve over the years. The previous version of this June two-day festival was known as Heatwave, which was first held in Douglass Park before moving downtown to Northerly Island.
Beyond 2026 at Northerly Island was by all counts a success. The weather mostly held up this year, and attendees got 11 hours of music each day from Saturday, June 6 to Sunday, June 7.
The festival finished the weekend with a announcement just a few days later. Beyond Wonderland Chicago would become Beyond Wonderland Midwest and move to a 3-day camping festival at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. It’s the first festival at that location since EDC Chicago in 2013.
For now, we have the memory of Beyond Wonderland Chicago, which was a fun, convenient weekend of electronic music in Chicago. Held at Northerly Island near Soldier Field and Museum Campus, the venue expands from one permanent bandshell to four stages across the island. While sound bleed was sometimes an issue, navigating throughout the grounds was straightforward.
The four stages at Beyond Wonderland were perfect for a festival of this size. It’s always an advantage when multi-stage events can take advantage of a permanent structure like North Coast does at its stadium. Beyond Wonderland used its Northerly Island location in the best possible way.
The vibes at Beyond Wonderland Chicago were above average. You never know what you’re going to get with a city festival, but the Beyond Wonderland theme stayed true to its name. Many attendees came decked out in the Alice in Wonderland theme, and there were photo opps and decorations spread throughout the venue.
The music did not disappoint. The main stage, Queen’s Domain, hosted some of the scene’s biggest names like Zedd, Tiesto, Alan Walker, and Benny Benassi. Mad Hatter’s Castle hosted more bass music, with Zeds Dead, Excision, Trym, Kayzo, and Liquid Stranger. Caterpillar’s Garden was the house stage, while Cheshire Woods was the dubstep stage. There were always several solid options at any given time of the festival.
We left Beyond Wonderland Chicago 2026 satisfied, but the weekend ended with some surprising news. Beyond was leaving Northerly Island and increasing its footprint by moving to Chicagoland Speedway. This effectively changes the festival to a much larger suburban location with four nights of camping and new amenities.
The announcement took the community by surprise. Many were waiting for the festival to announce something like a move to Soldier Field, the famous stadium adjacent to the park that once hosted Spring Awakening. The move to Joliet is reminiscent of the one-off EDC Chicago in 2013, but Beyond Wonderland Midwest will likely look much different.
While we’re still waiting for most of the details regarding Beyond Wonderland Midwest, we already have our calendars marked for June 10-13, 2027. Insomniac has confirmed that the festival will go until 2 AM each night, plus an exclusive pre-party on Thursday with camping opening the same night. Stay tuned for more information on this major development in the Chicago EDM scene.
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