Summer Smash opens in Chicago with Lil Uzi Vert

Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival is back in Chicago this weekend, kicking off on a warm Friday in Douglass Park and running through 10 p.m. Sunday night.

Headliner first night was Lil Uzi Vert. Headliner Saturday will be Post Malone in his first major concert since the release of his fourth studio album “Twelve Carat Toothache” earlier this month. The day will also feature Wiz Khalifa, Trippie Redd, Lil Skies, Rico Nasty and others on the festival’s three stages — as well as Chicago natives Polo G and G Herbo.

Sunday brings Playboi Carti, plus 2 Chainz, Lil Yachty, Oliver Tree, Yeat and others.

The three-day festival of rap and hip hop, put on by SPKRBX, expects daily attendance of 25,000 to 30,000 (all ages) after reporting some 90,000 fest-goers at a later August event last year. Following what has become standard music festival practice, Summer Smash follows state and local requirements for COVID-19 protocols and has no mask or vaccine rules in place for entry for 2022.

The festival announced on social media that because of travel delays, Nardo Wick will now be performing on Saturday.

Gates open at noon at 1401 S. Sacramento Drive at Ogden both Saturday and Sunday. Some tickets are still available at thesummersmash.com.