![Future closes out night 2 of the Summer Smash on the Stadium stage.](https://bridgeview-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SummerSmash-8-1024x512.jpg)
Future closes out night 2 of the Summer Smash on the Stadium stage.
Bridgeview’s Stadium has had an incredible Summer filled with Rugby, Soccer, and two weekend festivals which has attracted tens of thousands of guests to our Village. Summer highlights include the 2023 Major League Rugby Championship, the 2023 Leagues Cup, the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup, the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, and the North Coast Music Festival! Each event successfully drew in thousands of guests and maintained our Stadium’s status as an entertainment spotlight of the Chicagoland area.
![2023 Summer Smash's biggest names, including Kid Kudi, Future, and Playboi Carti, performed on the massive Lyrical Lemonade Starry Stage.](https://bridgeview-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SummerSmash-1-300x200.jpg)
![Fans enjoy one of many of the larger-than-life art installations at Summer Smash.](https://bridgeview-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/SummerSmash-3-300x200.jpg)
The Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash brought over 100 hip hop artists from all over the country to perform across 3 spectacular stages. Diamond artists Kid Cudi, Future, and Lil Uzi Vert were just the tip of the iceberg in a stacked lineup filled with incredible talent and massive fan bases, including Playboi Carti, Lil Durk and $uicide Boy$. The 3 day festival was filled with unique artists’ installations such as miniature recreations of music sets from popular Lyrical Lemonade music videos, including Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams” and Jack Black’s “Peaches” to name a few. Fully loaded with a ferris wheel, lounges, food vendors, and one of the largest stages ever constructed in the midwest, the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash drew in over 100,000 guests over the course of 3 days.
![2023 Major League Rugby Champions the New England Free Jacks Celebrate their incredibly tight victory.](https://bridgeview-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Championship-577-300x200.jpg)
![DJ Diesel, a.k.a. NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, starts the pregame party.](https://bridgeview-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Championship-116-300x200.jpg)
The 2023 Major League Rugby Championship was an epic battle between the top two Rugby teams in the U.S., the San Diego Legion and the New England Free Jacks. DJ Diesel, also known as NBA legend Shaquielle O’Neal, kicked off the pregame party in style on the Stadium stage. The loud and passionate crowd then hyped up the fierce competition between the San Diego Legion and the New England Free Jacks, with the Legion up 17 to 13 in the first half of the match. The Free Jacks, however, refused to be buried and struck back throughout the second half until finally securing an amazing victory by the slimmest of margins, 25 to 24, to become the 2023 MLR Champions! The Stadium energy was electric, and the day finished strong with a post-game party performance by Dropkick Murphys. This thrilling nail-biter of a championship certainly created new fans of rugby and will be sure to keep existing fans coming back for more!
![Coasties party on the NC Yacht by Beatbox at the North Coast Music Festival.](https://bridgeview-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/NCMF_Bridgeviews-7-300x200.jpg)
![Marshmellow lights up the Stadium stage and wows the crowd of Coasties.](https://bridgeview-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/NCMF_1-1024x512.jpg)
The three-day North Coast Music Festival was jam-packed with action. The festival hosted some of the biggest names in EDM and house music genres, including Marshmello, Alesso, and Flume, who sent the massive North Coast crowds into a frenzy. The Stadium campus was filled with fantastical art installations, incredible musical talent, and high-quality vendors from around the country. Big-name corporate sponsors like Ford and Jose Cuervo seized the opportunity to be part of the festival and developed creative activations to engage with the Coasties, the friendly festival goers who came together for an amazing and unique experience celebrating their differences in an inclusive environment. North Coast truly provided everything a brilliant and memorable festival needs, and the results showed why SeatGeek Stadium was a great choice for this sensational event.
Loading up Bridgeview Stadium with innovative and imaginative events that fully utilize the surrounding property is key to its future success. We are grateful to be able to host some of the most unforgettable experiences for people from all over the country and sometimes the world, and we look forward to continuing to provide quality content in 2024.