This weekend, for the seventh year in a row, the Pitchfork Music Festival takes over Union Park. It's become not only one of the great Chicago summer rituals, but a major international event, drawing bands and tens of thousands of fans from around the world.

Beginning Friday, Pitchfork will host 47 bands and artists on three stages with up to 60,000 fans expected to attend. Some of the headliners could be considered mainstream, none more so than Feist, but the majority of the groups are far from household names, representing a cross-section of rock, hip-hop and electronic music. For the hard-core music fan (and what Pitchfork follower isn't?), the festival represents the possibility of discovery, the chance to see a terrific band on the way up.

Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph St.; 3 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Pitchforkmusicfestival.com or Ticketweb.com ($45/day).