Chicagoans rarely suffer from a shortage of music festivals, but few such events make me feel like I’m participating in the city’s cultural fabric like the Chosen Few Picnic. The long-running house-music celebration began informally in 1990, and its roots extend even further back. Wayne Williams founded the Chosen Few DJ collective in 1977 as a high school student, and the group helped Chicago youth keep carrying the disco torch as the music drifted out of sync with mainstream pop. Williams stabilized the Chosen Few’s lineup over the next few years, first bringing aboard Jesse Saunders, then Tony Hatchett, Alan King, and finally Tony’s younger brother, Andre. They helped evolve the culture of dance music in Chicago, building upon and expanding what Frankie Knuckles had incubated at the Warehouse. But as house music became a citywide phenomenon in the early 1980s, the members of the Chosen Few began moving away for college. Their annual summertime tradition is sometimes called the Chosen Few Reunion Picnic in part because the collective—which added Terry Hunter in 2006 and Mike Dunn in 2012—could use the Fourth of July weekend to reconvene in Chicago. It all started in 1990, when the Chosen Few DJed at the Hatchett family’s annual Independence Day barbecue behind the Museum of Science and Industry.

A lot has changed for the gathering in 33 years. In some respects the Chosen Few Picnic, which draws tens of thousands of people to Jackson Park, now resembles a more traditional summer music festival: it’s become a gated and ticketed event, and these days the DJs spin on a stage outfitted with a jumbotron. But much of the spirit of the picnic’s original incarnation remains intact. Large groups of family and friends show up in the early morning with tents and barbecue grills of all sizes, set up camp in the park, and kick back—and when the music moves them, of course, they dance. Every member of the Chosen Few spins for an hour, along with a slate of guests. As usual, the DJ lineup is filled with dance veterans this year, including Masters at Work cofounder Kenny Dope, London house pioneer Stan Zeff, and Chicago’s first woman house DJ, Lori Branch. The vocalists on the bill perform shorter sets but almost always light up the crowd. This year’s picnic features old-school R&B and gospel singer BeBe Winans and classic Chicago house vocalist Lidell Townsell—and I hope Townsell performs his 1991 Clubhouse Records single, “Nu Nu,” which alternates between easygoing and spicy. Organizers usually don’t release a detailed schedule till closer to the picnic, but this isn’t the kind of event where you dip in for one set and then leave—it’s about soaking up the atmosphere that all the DJs, singers, dancers, and grill masters create. In other words, you’ll want to get there early.

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 Chosen Few Picnic & Festival With the Chosen Few DJs, Kenny Dope, John Morales, Jamie 3:26, Stan Zeff, BeBe Winans, Lidell Townsell, and Lori Branch. Sat 7/8, 9 AM, Jackson Park, 63rd St. at Hayes Drive, $60 general admission, $160 for two GA tickets and a parking pass, kids under 12 free, all ages