Riot Fest 2013Crowd-Crush Incident
During Blink-182's Saturday night set at Riot Fest Chicago, reports described crowd pressure and mosh-pit conditions near the front, with six people transported to hospitals.
Incident Overview
What Happened
Multiple reports state that crowd pressure / mosh-pit conditions developed near the front during Blink-182’s set at Riot Fest in Humboldt Park. Six people were transported to hospitals according to Chicago Fire Department information cited by local news reports; DNAinfo reported the fire department said none of the injuries were serious. ABC7 also reported one attendee speaking from Stroger Hospital with a fractured neck and said additional people may have been taken by private ambulances staffing the event.
Incident name: Riot Fest 2013 crowd-crush / mosh-pit incident during Blink-182 set. ABC7 framed it as “Riot Fest injuries in mosh pit,” while CBS and DNAinfo reported six festivalgoers hospitalized after injuries during Riot Fest in Humboldt Park.
Location & Context
Where It Happened
Date: 14 September 2013. The incident was reported as occurring during Blink-182’s Riot Fest set on Saturday night at Riot Fest Chicago 2013.
Location: Riot Fest / Riot Fest & Carnival, Humboldt Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Riot Fest’s own 2013 material identifies the Chicago event as taking place in Humboldt Park, and contemporary reports place the incident at Riot Fest in Humboldt Park during Blink-182’s set. Exact street-level location was not verified in the sources reviewed.
Check disputed details →Key Facts
Reported Outcomes
Chronology
Incident Timeline
Outcomes / Details
Injury Reporting
Disputed Details
Conflicting Information
The source set contains several points where reporting differs. These should be kept visible rather than forced into a neat but shaky conclusion.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so the difference is preserved rather than flattened.
DNAinfo reported that none of the injuries were serious and only two had minor injuries, citing the fire department.
ABC7 reported one attendee, Dan, was at Stroger Hospital recovering from a fractured neck.
These reports are not necessarily mutually exclusive. DNAinfo’s statement appears to refer to the six people transported in the fire department response, while ABC7 says Riot Fest had no record of Dan and suggests some additional patients may have gone by private ambulances.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so the difference is preserved rather than flattened.
Witness-based reporting in CBS and ABC7 describes crowd pushing, people falling, and a trample/crush scenario near the front during Blink-182’s set.
Riot Fest spokesperson Heather West told ABC7 that none of the people transported were trampled.
Conflicting contemporaneous accounts are present. The disagreement should be preserved rather than resolved beyond what the sources state.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so the difference is preserved rather than flattened.
CBS, DNAinfo, and ABC7 each report six people transported / hospitalized.
ABC7 also says it appeared at least a few others were taken by private ambulances staffing the event.
Six transported by CFD is supported; a higher overall injured total was suggested but not verified.
Not Verified
Unverified Details
The following points were not confirmed in the reviewed sources.
Source Material
References
Sources used to build this incident page, including contemporary news, Riot Fest material, event listings and supporting documents.
All Document URLs
Source Links
Direct links to the reviewed source material.
