The 52nd annual Dillo Day took place Saturday. The festival began on the Lakefill at 12:15 p.m. and ended around 10:30 p.m. after headliner Swae Lee’s concluding performance.
Learn more about the history of Dillo Day, by the numbers, here.
Main Stage performers
Notable performers over the last 10 years include Chance the Rapper, 2 Chainz, Dominic Fike and Offset.
Over the past decade, three performances did not happen in person — once because of a weather cancellation in 2015 and twice because the festival took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
Dillo Day weather
Dillo Day has seen weather as low as 62°F in 2011 and 2022. In 2014 and 2021, the temperature reached as high as 88°F.
2024’s high of 79°F marked the warmest in-person Dillo Day since 2019.
Student government funding
Prior to this year, the Associated Student Government funded the majority of Dillo Day. For Dillo Day 52, though, Northwestern surpassed ASG in its funding toward the annual event.
From 2019 to 2023, ASG allocated between $344,000 and $366,000 to Mayfest Productions annually. This year, ASG’s funding dropped to approximately $250,000, although the overall Mayfest budget increased following the University’s contribution of $479,000.
Main Stage performer genres
Hip-hop has been the most popular genre featured on the Main Stage of Dillo Day over the past 10 years. This year, both Lupe Fiasco — who also took the stage in 2007 — and headliner Swae Lee fell under this category.
The least popular genre of the five represented in the past decade has been tied for pop and R&B.
Main Stage performer ages
The majority of Dillo Day performers fall between the ages of 24 and 30. The median age of Main Stage performers over the last 10 years is 28.
2024’s lineup was older than most Dillo lineups in recent years, as Swae Lee and Bakar are both 30 years old. Lupe Fiasco became the oldest performer in the last decade at age 42.
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