Third Eye Blind to headline Ribfest at DuPage County fairgrounds
Third Eye Blind will make Ribfest crowds party like it's 1997.
The San Francisco band responsible for the earworm of the decade, “Semi-Charmed Life,” will headline the opening night of Ribfest. If you're reading this, chances are the song's relentlessly catchy chorus will get stuck in your head all over again.
“Doot-doot-doot, doot-doot-doot doo!”
Traditionally held around the Fourth of July, Ribfest will now close out the festival season with professional touring pitmasters cooking up lip-smacking barbecue and concerts from radio hit makers at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton. Third Eye Blind, purveyors of pop rock, will play Friday, Sept. 15.
“Third Eye Blind is the perfect band to kick off Ribfest 2023,” Ribfest Chair Jerry Kochurka said of the first band to be announced for this year's lineup. “We are very excited that they are going to be with us and light up the evening.”
After a pandemic pause, the Exchange Club of Naperville, a civic group in charge of the event, mounted a comeback in 2022, bringing a scaled-back version of Ribfest to a new venue — the fairgrounds — during Father's Day weekend. The Exchange Club has made another change this year, opting for September dates and nicer weather for barbecue hounds.
Organizers have raised millions of dollars through 32 years of Ribfest for charities dedicated to survivors of child abuse and domestic violence.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 9 at ribfest.net.