Mark Humphrey/AP
Country music superstars Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and Jon Pardi, who were booked to play at the 2020 Windy City Smokeout until it was extinguished by COVID-19 concerns, are set to take the stage at this summer’s fest.
The music and barbecue extravaganza is scheduled to return July 8-11 outside the United Center, 1901 W. Madison St. At Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Thursday morning announcement of looser pandemic restrictions, she cited the Windy City Smokeout as one of the events soon to be feasible in Chicago.
This year the festival grows by a day, and headlining the new fourth night will be hitmaker Brett Eldredge, who recorded his most recent album, “Sunday Drive,” at Chicago’s Shirk Studios.