I always make it to Do Division fest. I feel like it's the kick off to summer. Came on a Saturday afternoon. Got to get a XRT free T-shirt & talk with Marty Lennartz & Chalupa his cute dog. Lots of shopping here. T-shirt, jewelry etc. Great food booths. My favorite Lau Peng You is here with music pumping. Good wood fired pizza this year. Beat kitchen is a regular too. It's always crowded & tight to walk around since businesses are open with patios & clothes racks outside. 2 stages at either end with great live music. Can't go wrong! read more

Do Division Street Fest - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here at evening with cousin. First of all, the address on Google Maps (and Uber) is incorrect. There was nothing happened at this location. Waste of Uber ride. The correct address is: 2000 W Division St Second, this Grand Joke of a street fest is too crowded. Too many people and easy to step on someone's toes, both figuratively and literally. Third, probably the Last Insult or straw that broke the camel's back as it were, but a lot of mean and callous people here. Also it's extremely hard to socialize with any group at length, so it's hard to join a convo that's going on. To give a more concrete example, I went into a shop with an intent to purchase some goods, in strolled in a couple and essentially avoided eye contact with me completely, and made me feel small and insignificant, and pretty bad about myself and self image as it were. Essentially, they treated me badly. That is just one example but you get the gist. I try to review any place honestly, and this is my honest take on it. The vibes of the "festival" didn't agree with me at all. In short, this "Street Fest" was the opposite of fun and was a total disaster. I did not enjoy it one bit, and will likely not be coming back. Nice try, "Street Fest" of Chicago. Should be called "Mean Ridicule Fest". Ridiculous, like a dude in a clown outfit giving you life advice. Total swing and miss! read more

Live music on two stages. Lot's of food and a variety of vendors. Tons of fun, I love festival season.

Summer just started cause I'm in the Division street fest. Weather is perfect, it not too crowded this Friday night, the band is playing - what's not to like? We're back to Normal? People watching here is always interesting. What's cool about this is starting from Ashland ave going west before you even hit the fest on Damen is rows and rows of restaurants with outdoor seating most of them bougie. Check the website for all the events like fashion shows or kids activities. Drinks are around $8. Warning though parking is a challenge so be prepared to be patient and to walk a lot. read more

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Do Division or Do Di, as Nick M. calls it (haha, he said "Doody") is still a solid beginning to the great Chicago tradition of community street festivals. Didja get that? Community street festivals. Pitch in the $5, it won't kill you! Especially since Do Division is now being booked by Empty Bottle Presents, which landed great bands like Life and Times, Ariel Pink, Jeff the Brotherhood. Do Division also has a stage devoted to mostly electronic music. Food options here are a little lacking. I always love seeing the Cevapcici booth, and Mana Food Bar has some good eats, but they need more food here! Beer and drink options are alright. And there are now two sidestreets almost completely devoted to kids and families. Go to Do Division, and get your summer started right! read more

We went on a Saturday when the Hawks were playing and won and the nice rainy weather we had on and off. Yet people were still hangout out. I was told that this was a 3 days event. We were here because my brother lives off this street. There was a $5 donation at the entrance which was ok. They had two live band stages on both ends of the street. I wished one of them had different DJs playing instead. They had plenty of port a potties and some picnic tables for folks to sit down and eat. The food venues that were set up in the middle of the streets were ok. You can also eat in the actual restaurants off the street as well. I wish the restaurants themselves would have at least set up a section and sell their most popular dishes as appetizer size for us to purchase, like Taste of Chicago.. I have to say that they did keep the streets clean from garbage and flooding water when it rained. There was a pretty good crowd and a lot of them dog owners. The crowd itself was mostly folks around their 20's-30's and a few with their kids. This would be a great Fest to meet local people if you live around the area. Overall, it was a nice experience as this was our first time attending these types of Fest in Chicago. read more

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I'm a huge festival goer, and Chicago doesn't disappoint. There's so many festivals that the city has to offer, and "Do Division Street Fest" is definitely a festival you should check out. Located in a great area, Division Street specifically between Ashland and Leavitt, is packed with independent boutiques, salons, spas, restaurants, bars, bakeries, coffee shops and cafes. The street divides West Town, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village and East Village to the south. All awesome and trendy neighborhoods. There were two live music stages, a Family stage, a wide variety of local vendors, tents, and food, beer and wine stations, and many bars. There was a section called "Do Fashion" with a runway where runway models showcased some fashion. The festival was well-spaced and didn't feel too congested, even for a dude like me, who doesn't like crowds. There were plenty of doggies and port o potties were a-plenty. I really liked how things were organized, and how integrated it was to the rest of the neighborhood, so once you're done with the festival, step into a local restaurant and bar to complete your festival of a day. Only knock is the entrance "donation" fee... not sure where it went toward, and I can't find much information about the "donation" and where it goes to. read more

Somehow the math doesn't add up right. So you've got this street fest in a great neighborhood (well, there is some bar fail in the area, I admit) with good bands (especially big with the kids in said neighborhood), a friendly atmosphere (Marty Lennartz from WXRT just being another person in the crowd instead of on stage like usual) and potentially great food vendors (Mana Food Bar, anyone) and yet the whole thing adds up to an average experience. Yeah, maybe it doesn't make any sense because I forgot to "do division." There is some variable that I'm missing that the whole fest is divided by. I would have to say that the "x" for this festival stands for "x"ecution (this review is about math, not spelling, darn it). The problem with Do Division was that it was too compact. There were enough booths inside for four blocks all compressed into two. Sunday wasn't horrible for space, though still a bit messy, but I could only imagine how crowded it was on Saturday. The sound was also terrible at the main stage unless you were close. It wasn't hard to get close on Sunday (the only way to meet Marty Lennartz) but even about two storefronts away from the stage, we could hear nothing but bass. There definitely needed to be more variety as well. The vendors were sadly predictable. Is there really any need for two sunglass tents? There were some new faces (and the spray pancakes were incredible) but I feel like it's possible I'll be seeing those at every fest to follow. So with the exception of the vegetarian food choices and the beer sheep (some ingenious locals dropping beer from the sky out of their apartment in a sheep shaped bucket for cheaper than the $4 PBRs at the beer tent) there was sadly no x factor to multiply Do Division by to separate it from any other festival. read more

Do Division Street Fest - The famous beer sheep made prices reasonable. - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Yay! It's here again! The Division Streetfest! I went down division for some lunch today and found myself in the middle of (in my opinion) one of the most fun streetfests in the city! Maybe I'm biased because I live in the area though. :) Had some brunch -- did a bit of shopping -- now I'm home to shower, change and do some more shopping. I definitely need to go get myself some Star Fruit today too -- haven't stopped by there in a while. Tons of sales going on -- check it out. There will also be live music! Here's the lineup: Music lineup: Saturday 1 p.m.: Lamajamal 2:30 p.m.: Dark Meat 4 p.m.: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound 5:30 p.m.: Viva Voce 7 p.m.: Handsome Furs 8:30 p.m.: Flosstradamus Sunday 1 p.m.: Bad Veins 2:30 p.m.: Jai Alai Savant 4 p.m.: Mt. St. Helens Vientnam Memorial Band 7 p.m.: White Rabbits 8:30 p.m.: Menomena read more

Did some shopping and even sold some old clothes to a place for $25! I took advantage of a few sales and was a happy guy! I did not check out the the bands or anything, but I heard it was awesome! read more

I thing that's really cool about my b-day weekend (other then the obvious) is that their are a butt load of fests. Out of all of them Do Division is making it's way to up to the top of my list. It certainly had the better bands this year out of all the festivals and those to come from what I see. Usually at these things I follow a check list 1. Get drink 2. Walk from end to end just to check out vendors (Hey Yelp booth!) 3. Pick food vendor, get food 4. Find nice spot to eat and listen to live music I know simple... yet smart!! This year was ok, crowd was getting a little crappy later in the evening (hipsters and trixies galore) but always fun to watch. I found really cool t-shirt vendors which I'll be scoping out later online. I'm happy with it. White Rabbits rule!! read more

Do Division Street Fest - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This is one of my favorite neighborhoods for a street fair: it's not too large, the food is great (a lot of great restaurants along the strip) and there are a lot of quality craft and art items that aren't super expensive and tap into the creativity of the local artisans. They have rearranged the stages since I last went, so that the entrance isn't overly crowded, genius move. Every time you go back here there are new stores but also the same old favorites as well. read more

Do Division is not Renegade, so don't get the two confused but DD did and has had a few vendors selling crafts, jewelry, belts, hats, plants and t-shirts, some of which was made by hand by the artist selling on hand. Do Division is a smaller festival and again this year, it was a short three and a half blocks. As others have said in other reviews, it's small, it's got a decent lineup of music, better food than most of the "common" festivals and who doesn't love the ability to stand in the street with other lovely Chicagoans, drink and socialize. That's one thing they offered that not a lot of other festivals do; offering socialization spaces. For example by the stages and off the intersections were areas that were large in space where people could rock out, or just convene & hang out. So bring your kids if you like (during the day only please) and your dogs. I guess it's also a great way to get to know the area. When I'm at Renegade I'm looking for new shizz for my home, gifts, etc. At Do Division, you can get through the stands pretty quickly which leaves time to check out the local stores and restaurants. In the end it was so hot & swelter-y this year, we camped out at Fame. Their Moscow mule's kept us comfortable and buzzed. Kudos to fest management for getting Coors sponsoring for the 2014 event. Two beers I can't stand are Budweiser and PBR, I can't tell you how many Chicago festivals I've been to with piss & diarrhea water. Guys you can still claim to live in the city without drinking PBR. read more

3 1/2 stars. We do this fest as a family so the best time to go is early, when it opens. We actually try to get there prior to the start as many vendors are open prior to noon, as are all of the stores and restaurants. Many of the stores in this stretch have changed face since our first visit a few years ago, and all for the better. Several pubs and restaurants to pick from and some nice outdoor seating. As for the festival itself, we like it for the vendors and kids activities. The vendor area seemed quite a bit smaller this year but I was happy to find Peoples Garment Co there. They peddle mostly t-shirts featuring defunct Chicago sports teams. Scored a cool Chicago Whales 1914 Federal League Baseball shirt from them today. Most of the vendors are clothing and crafts dealers but there's also a food deal of companies offering freebies. Check out the Illinois Lottery booth, sign up and get a free ticket. Not bad. This children's area of the festival is the majority of it, which spans two streets. My son enjoyed the bouncing tent, miniature golf, virtual running game, climbing wall and horse ride on the events street. On the other street he got a bunch of tattoo's, sunglasses, frisbee's, flashlights, colored pictures, balloons, etc. There's a good deal of live entertainment at the festival which I'd like to see, but it doesn't really start until late afternoon when we've already spent 4-5 hours in the sun. Anyways, this is a nice festival for families, but it really caters to just about everyone. Cheers. read more

Some people go to street fests for food. Some people go to street fests for people watching. Some people go to street fests for art. Some people go to street fests for shopping. I go to street fests for music. Do Division Street Fest has some of the best music provided by Empty Bottle and Subterranean's booking. I love how close you can get to the stage with such ease and hear some great music. And there is a doggy fashion show. FOUR PAWS UP. read more

Oh buggers, another $5 donation, for what exactly... this one is very tiny - I'ld give it a three if it were just bigger with more to see. Do Division is like entering a hip club where everyone looks tan, workout, maybe do laundry. Summer hasn't even officially started, how did that happen?! Most ladies are all dolled up wearing cute summer dresses walking around on 6" wedges. Myself, totally under dressed with my t-shirt + jeans and dr. scholl's walking shoes. Gosh, I feel so out of place... Division has lots of sidewalk seating eateries, so there's plenty of people watching (keyword- just watching) during this festival. It's like a fashion show of the public. Music is good also not distortingly loud. Noteworthy crowd: Mostly mid 20/early 30 somethings, yuppies, families with giant baby strollers and dogs. read more

It was a great weekend festival. A lot of people were out, the weather was great! Great music and food is all I can ask for. Is definitely a must go for next summer! read more

For my 1st Chicago festival of the year, Do Division Street fest was a little underwhelming. It didn't disappoint as far as having something fun to do on a Saturday. But in comparison to other festivals I've been to in the past, there weren't a lot of food and drink options. The fest really only has 2 drink tents that features the same beers, cider and Sangria. You'd like to see more than 6 options. And it didn't help that both tents were on complete opposite sides of the festival. Food options were a little better. They had a huge food tent with wing buckets, cheese fries buckets, italian beef and a bunch of other things you would find in a sandwich shop. And they also had an orange chicken stand that was packed with people. The saving grace was the local establishments. So if you didn't want the food or drinks at the festival, almost every establishment was jam packed with people eating and sitting on their patios. We stopped at FAME and had a great time there with their $5 dollar burgers and pints special. For $5, its worth it if you are out with friends. Just wish there were more options food and drinkwise. read more

Do Division Street Fest - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

All Festivals are pretty much the same too me. I just like to be able to go outside and enjoy the weather and maybe once in a while they'll be a few interesting vendors. That goes for DO Division as well. I like that there are many restaurants with outdoor seating to frequent while at the fest. I got a really good deal on a ring (paid $5) that I love. Other than that same old same old...running into friends, eating, drinking, etcc.... Nice thing about this festival is they ask for a $5.00 donation (pretty cheap), but they don't try to force you to pay the donation like other festivals do...(ahem...Randolph Street Fest). It's a good time with friends and family out on the streets of Division. read more

Do Division Street Fest - Bought an awesome $5 ring :) - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Cons: Small fest Bad sound (for the band I went to try to hear) Pros: vegetarian and pescetarian food options Barefoot bubbly and Sangria (I don't like beer) People-watching in front of the car wash--it was like an import from the Jersey Shore. I am not hip and had never heard of most of the bands; if I had, perhaps I would have enjoyed it better. read more

Do Division was my first festival of the season so of course I loved it just for that reason. Standing in the sun with friends while drinking a beer and listening to music...it just doesn't get any better. Plus, I'm starting to dig this area a lot. I had fun shopping at all the stores up and down Division. The best part of Do Division was cevapcici man. Other than that, this is a pretty small festival. I'm musically lame and didn't know any of the bands that were playing, so the music aspect didn't thrill me all too much. The beer tent was ok. They offered more than the typical Bud/Bud Light. They also had some "ghetto sangria." I left around 5pm because the fest was getting more crowded and douchey by the second. read more

I swear this festival was bigger last year. The musical line up was really good this year, I enjoyed White Rabbits and Menomena. And because of Michael G spotting him, we met Marty Lennartz from WXRT. Shorter than I imagined, but a very cool person (aside from him loving the Cubs, anyway). But the best part was the beer. Not the beer from the beer stand though. The beer dropped down from a window above Division Street from some enterprising individuals. 2 PBRs for $5 -- best deal at the fest and I'm sure they made their rent. Do Division indeed. read more

A puppy sleeping in daddy's arms, cevapcici sandwiches, third glance-worthy vendor wares (gauzy Bohemian sundresses for $25!) Blue Moon (it's not crafty but it's still a step above last year's PBR), can't-help-but-love-'em cover bands, and the one thing I am very, very sorry I missed: Jameson ice cream. As in, Jameson Irish Whiskey. Go ahead and judge me now but I want to jump headfirst into this hype! Though it rained again on the Saturday this year, Do Division reigns supreme in my street festival-lovin' heart. Mostly because it's the first major fest of the season! By North Coast Music Festival (Labor Day weekend), I'm admittedly dragging my dirty, stomped-on feet. But Do Division? I'll always be chomping at the bit... and three years later, I've only grown fonder. read more

Great festival in a nice part of town. There is a considerable amount of food selections from Smoke Daddy Ribs, burgers, kabobs to fried snickers. You can also have some Coors Light, Leinenkugels beer which is not too pricey. There were some good selections from vendors selling jewelry, paintings, sketches, dog clothing and some nice summer wardrobe selections. My favorite are the bands and djs. They always know how to entertain a good crowd. This year they held a fashion show from Mad Style, Maash, Takataka Hills, Prin, Psychobaby, M.Go, Sin Charity and The Pattern Maker to entertain the gals with host NBC 5 Reporter Natalie Martinez. I will be back for more next year. read more

The festival was decent. But come on guys a petting zoo!? Kind of disturbing and I even saw some guy in a trench coat just kind of lurking around their.(creepy) Anyway, I'm all about having something for the kids but not when you have a few thousand drunks running around. Take the kids to the park or to the burbs not a city meat fest...i mean street fest. Although I must say, at least they kept the kids in the back by the kiddy part and that was very cool of the parents.(way to go parents!!) Other than that the food was "eh" and only one frikkin beer tent...seriously lame. The wares were decent.(but mostly same ol festival type stuff with a coupke of original tents i havn't seen before) I even saw Yelp representin. "whatwhat" The music was decent. I think the sound problem was the bands themselves. The first two bands that played had decent well balanced sound but the third band although led by cute chick, sounded like ass. I think they need to rehearse there outdoor stage sound a bit more....the base was drowning out the vocals. Too bad cause it sounded like they had potential!! ..I can't for the life of me remember any of the bands names...and i always remember the bands names:/ Oh well all in all not a waste of time, I enjoyed myself enuff to go back next year:) read more

The people watching at this Festival was priceless. You got to love the Hipsters. They sure have brought brought back the 1975 fashions. I felt like I was in an old episode of Starsky and Hutch. It looked like a great time was had by all. They had a nice variety of food available and some pretty interesting micro brews. The musical acts left a bit to be desired. It was pretty shocking when this rap duo came on stage and started swearing like Sailors. The place was packed with families and kids in strollers. The reactions to the cursing were quite interesting. I'm going to add this to my street fair list for next year, I had a great time at this shindig. Summer is officially here. Let the street fair debauchery begin. read more

This is a fine, if rather generic, street festival. Come here for fried food, day drinking on the street, music, bro-watching, and some light shopping. Stay for the inevitable thunderstorm, then get yourself another cevapcici. Compared to the two dozen other similar north side street fests in a given summer, Do Division has a few standout points: -The music lineup is strong, and very light on the midwest 80's cover bands that infest this city's street fairs. -Division is a wide boulevard, allowing plenty of walking and relaxing space on all sides. The organizers put out plenty of benches with awnings, too. -Pretty good bars and restaurants line this stretch of Division. Any weaknesses? My, yes: -A notably poor showing of craftsmen and vendors, beyond the zipcar and funnel cake booths at every festival. I couldn't bring myself to even browse, much less buy. No offense meant to the proprietors of these tents, but I have to give you an Etsy-Minus. -The organizers don't account for traffic control outside the blocked off streets. This is a bit of a hassle and hazard. If you're nearby, or can be, certainly check out Do Division this weekend. Wear sunscreen. read more

So I came to this one because I wanted to try a new festival out and never been to this one. Everything about it seemed promising. Wicker Park is a fun neighborhood that I don't make it out to that often, warm weather, first weeeknd of multiple street festivals to choose.... what more do you want? I get in on the Leavitt side, there is a big petting zoo and fundraiser for a local school. This is def not what I expected. But who doesn't like horses and junk. I continue walking around and then there are a bunch of salons giving out samples and talking about grand openings. I got a shaved head.... I don't need a $300 package that includes a 12 step process to do my hair. I require White Rain (cause the apple sent smells like apples and I want that on my head stubble), a good shaving cream, and a good razor (that I buy in bulk online). Anyways the salons gave me these samples of some spearmint oil shampoo. So now my breath and scalp will be minty fresh!!! So keep walking.... ooo a bunch of dogs to pet (one of my favorite things about street fests since my landlord doesn't let me have pets). Finally get to some food. We went for Smoke Daddy bbq. It was good, but overpriced (its a street festival afterall). I was really impressed with their home made bbq chips. Then off to get some freshly made kettle corn, that was some good stuff. I'm not sure who was playing on stage, but they were pretty solid. read more

This is my favorite street fest I've attended so far in 2011. $5 admission was justifiable for all the free stuff I got (a sippy cup from Timeout, cat food from...I don't know where). They had lots of great, cheap carnival food - my special favorites were the foot-long corndog and the funnel cake. YUM. Lots of great vendors, overall, I'd do it again next year! read more

I have a hard time at most street fests b/c I don't like crowds or most people for that matter. I was allowed access to a "VIP" section which was ideal for me. So there I sat taking in the hipster scenery, which was some of the best people watching I've done in a long time. It's not exactly the same as people watching at let's say 1/2 price night at Comiskular but it was damn good. If anything it signaled the start of summer, so Cheers to that! read more

This festival is getting better every year. Now that local music clubs like Sub T and the Bottle are doing the booking the festival is getting great headliners on both stages. They had a slew of excellent Indie rock bands (let's not get into brass tacks here) and delivered all day. I saw a few of the bands at the booking venues before the fest so was not here for the big day (Saturday), but rather came on Sunday. I am not a very cool guy. In fact, I am pretty lame most of the time, but what I love about this festival (as someone who lives a half mile away) is that I saw so many people I knew, and also ran into servers, and bartenders from local establishments that I knew as well. It was nice to chat with so many neighbors and friends and this made the festival feel like it hadn't gotten too big for its britches like the crazy fests that run along Milwaukee Avenue. I try to avoid buying beer from the beer tents, but like to get my beers at the cafes and other bars on the street. There are rules about no bottles or cans on the street, so I was served in a plastic cup at a few places and this was allowed (I have no idea if this is "approved") so security did not force me to get rid of my drinks. I saw them enforcing the no cans or bottles rule earlier in the day, but by the time the last acts went on at 8 and 830 they were not doing so. People had backpacks full of beer and were drinking it and passing around 1/5 bottles of rum. Despite this drinking - everyone was friendly and respectful. Only one guy from Saint Louis was having a hard time standing - and his hosts got him out of there! Thanks hosts! Overall a great fest with great music and for a $5 or $1 donation or free for you Art School Confidential types, it really is a neighborhood party rather than a drunk fest for boozers from other hoods. This said, my friend said that Saturday there were a lot of high-fiven bros and Trixies and they were here in full force, but hey, you can buy a $500K condo around here so the bros and painted toe Trixies are gonna come - build it and they will come. But hey, who is complaining about girls in 6 inch wedges and hot pants? Not this reporter! I think that Kids are going to have fun before 5. After 5 I would find something else for the kiddies to do. read more

For a $5 Suggested Donation you too can walk up and down Division, imbibe on overpriced beer, snack or dine on food from one of the food booths, purchase jewelry/clothing/dog snacks/etc from one of the many vendors and listen to one of the many bands on their line-up. I didn't really stop to check all the food booths because the only food I had my eye one was Cevapcicci--my favorite fest food--and they did not disappoint. I did like that there was a lot of seating (picnic) tables available. Don't be shy, just ask if there's room and set yourself down. The children's area was really nice but I didn't expect that every activity required tickets ($) even after paying the $5 donation at the gate. There was pony rides, face painting, a scavenger hunt and other mini carnival games.Thank you to the ladies at Psychobaby though for doing up the bub's hair Sid Vicious style with blue highlights (no ticket required!) The walking area is wide although can get crowded in some areas (like near the carnival food booths). Lots of strollers so watch the back of your feet. Dog friendly. I wasn't really wowed by the Fest, but did get introduced to some great businesses that I will for sure frequent in the future. read more

As far as Chicago festivals go, this one is a pretty good one. There are lots of vendors there - food and boutiques, etc. The food is of course expensive, but it is at every festival. I didn't know any of the bands playing this year, but I enjoyed the ones we heard. It was great for just sitting, strolling, and people watching for a few hours. And coming home with a very sunburned nose! One of my favorite things about it was that it was busy - but not packed. There was room to move around, room to sit, and room to watch the band without being squished into the sweaty person next to you. read more

I knew what to expect when I went - hipster overload, very few places to buy booze, fewer places to pee, but the one good thing about Do Division is that the music is A LOT better than most of the other Chicago Festivals. I went to Belmont/Sheffield festival on accident once a few years back and will not repeat it. Yes, Do Division was crowded but Flostradomus was bitchin. I find the other festivals to be just as packed and offer a lot less. (Note to people with dogs or strollers - or god forbid DOUBLE WIDE strollers - maybe this isn't the right event for your pet/child because going home with them smelling like whiskey or having a cigarette burn is probably the least of your problems from bringing them here.). I was able to bypass the high liquor prices by picking up some last minute BYOB Crown Royal from the very conveniently located liquor store right on the corner of Damen so that was a bonus. And always Do Division was excellent for people watching - which really, is the best part of street festivals in Chicago in the Summer besides being able to drink in the street. Legally that is. Unfortunately no drunk hipsters fell off the roof of the nearby building while dancing. But there is always next year. read more

With the coming of summer, it's always exciting to look at the unfolding of festivals over the months to see what great bands can be see and what food can be sampled. I want to like Do Division - it's one neighborhood over from my neighborhood and they typically have a handful of rad bands on hand (Ted Leo in 2008 for example) - this year was no exception with Sunday night closers Yacht who more than proved why James Murphy put them on his DFA label. AMAZING AMAZING show with crisp clear sound (a surprise as the preceding set by locals The Ponys was good but almost overbearingly bass heavy). While the music is top notch, unfortunately the rest of the festival simply doesn't stand out. The selections of food are sub par and predictable, the mixture of neighborhood regulars and the proliferation of trixies and bro chads (already infecting WP and Division on weekend nights) is a hard sell, especially when the second of those two groups is so absolutely obnoxious and heinous towards anything that isn't wearing a cookie cutter polo and some khakis. Honestly, I'm not all that sure what Do Division is trying to go for. Are they attempting to highlight the eccentricities of the neighborhood or the fact that it's one of the city's biggest bar destinations? Maybe I'm just delirious but this festival just isn't all that special. read more

Beautiful people don't do division. We do multiplication. This is normally the case, but Mr Beautiful never passes up the chance to grace the masses with his presence and allow 10 blocks worth of people to bask in the awesomeness of his beauty. So, of course I just had to make an appearance, along with the rest of the Trinity of Perfection, as well as quite a few members of Team Insomnia, and the Wonder Whore Twins, who disappeared as soon as we got there. Aside from the brief monsoon, it was definitely a great way to kick off the festival season in Chicago. Grab a beer, get some snackage, get another beer, holler at some lovelies, listen to some tunes, let a lovely buy you a beer, and leave with her friend. Good times, my friends. Good times, indeed. I kinda wish that I had stuck around a little longer because Allison Brie from Community on NBC was there. I totally would have left with Allison, after letting her friend buy me a beer, of course. Holla!!!™ read more

I feel like a bit of a Debbie Downer, but I think Do Division was WAY better last year. The lineup of bands was kind of weak this year and there was an overabundance of douchey annoying frat boys and coked out ladies. The highlight of the fest was the Led Zeppelin Tribute band (mainly for the LOLz) and all of the frat boys fist pumping their support (and drunkenness). And the Middle Eastern hip hop act on Sunday afternoon was pretty cool. read more

I go to this one because it's relatively close to where I live. They seem to have good bands, but this year it seemed smaller, and I'm not sure why. There were lots of good variety of shops, but not a ton of restaurants. It was a good mix of people and draws in a nice crowd. read more

Do-Division itself is a 3 star festival. The bands were pretty good, the food was overpriced as usual, and the shops were ok. But the regular restaurants on division are open, the boutiques nearby are open, and there is a little room to walk around. Division has more boutiques than I've ever seen in one place. read more

Due to weather conditions this past weekend, it was slightly hard to enjoy the festival. I mainly went here for my daughter thinking that she might have enjoyed the kids area that was recommended by another Elite Yelper. The kids section was small and there were things that required tickets. I'm fine with that but the cost of some items were crazy. People...festivals are suppose to be cheap fun and especially with this economy, you can't hike up ticket prices like our taxes! We did see some performances by kids, and adult entertainers for kids, which was a treat as all the kids around had a blast. Jeanie B sure does know how to incorporate the little ones into her songs. We did browse the entire festival and I think this was made for more adults than children. The area where the kids section was was still too close to smokers, beer drinkers, and other adult things at a festival. The one thing that stood out to me the most was that the trash areas were despicable! I'm not a 'tidy' or 'A.D.D.' person about cleanliness but there was no way that anyone could have put trash in a trash an if the trash is falling out of it! I'm going to preach it....How are we going to keep our streets clean when people are purposely seeing how much trash can be piled until it falls over. read more