Now in its 31st year, the Chosen Few Picnic & Festival has been one of the largest house-music events in the world for more than a decade, but it started as an informal Fourth of July barbecue. In the late 1980s, brothers Tony and Andre Hatchett would join their family at a holiday picnic behind the Museum of Science and Industry. Tony and Andre have belonged to pivotal house-music DJ collective the Chosen Few since 1978 and 1981, respectively, and in 1990, they invited the rest of their crew—at the time Wayne Williams, Jesse Saunders, and Alan King—to spin at the Hatchett family picnic. Somewhere between 30 and 40 guests showed up.
Chosen Few In-House Picnic & Festival Featuring DJ Deon Cole, Byron Stingily, Carla Prather, DJ Wayne Williams, DJ Jesse Saunders, DJ Tony Hatchett, DJ Alan King, DJ Andre Hatchett, DJ Terry Hunter, and DJ Mike Dunn. Sat 7/4, noon-9 PM, livestream at chosenfewdjs.com/live, twitch.tv/chosenfewdjs, youtube.com/user/ChosenFewDJs, or mixcloud.com/chosenfewdjs, free, all ages
“We looked at some outdoor locations too,” King says. “But we felt like, as soon as people figured out where we were—if we were outdoors—next thing you know, there’d be five or ten thousand people showing up.” Even inside a shuttered club, the collective will be taking COVID-19 precautions: limiting the number of people in the space at once, practicing social distancing, wearing masks when not performing, and sanitizing equipment between sets.
The Chosen Few Picnic hasn’t been a seat-of-the-pants operation for ages now, but this year, for the first time in its three-decade history, it’s getting an official boost from the City of Chicago. The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events began promoting the festival last week, including it in a bundle of virtual Fourth of July events sponsored by the city.
