Heavy downpours forced organizers of the Sueños Music Festival in Grant Park to cancel the event on Sunday evening just before the world-renown headliner Peso Pluma was set to perform.
Despite several public announcements asking patrons to disperse, thousands of festival goers refused to leave Grant Park for a considerable amount of time and many chanted the Grammy Award-winning artist’s name, “Peso, Peso” in unison and in protest of the decision to stop the concert.
The rainout was a massive disappointment for the tens of thousands who had attended Sueños, now in its third year. Before Peso Pluma was scheduled to take the stage, organizers posted a message with a red background on a large screen urging attendees to evacuate the premises due to severe weather. Most remained in disbelief and angry.
The organizers’ decision came after heavy storms had already battered Chicago and the suburbs throughout much of the day, forcing organizers to cancel a number of earlier performances. But after the initial wave of storms moved through the area, organizers around 1 p.m. announced they would allow people to enter at 3 p.m. and start the show an hour later. But then, right before 8 pm, another wave of storms arrived and the Sueños team announced the festival was being canceled, “Due to severe weather in the area.”
In an Instagram post, organizers said they decided to cancel the second day of the festival in coordination with the National Weather Service and Chicago public safety officials.
“We did everything we could to keep the fest going,” organizers said in the social media statement. “The decisions to have a delayed start and evacuation were not taken lightly. We will never put anything above the safety of our community.”
The cancellation of the festival on Sunday came one day after Sueños saw its largest crowd as nearly 70,000 people attended the Latino music festival on Saturday.
Sueños started as a festival to celebrate Latino culture and create a unique space for reggaeton music, but it has transformed into a festival highlighting the rise of regional Mexican music over the last few years. Artists like Pluma and young Mexican American singers like Xavi and Ivan Cornejo, who performed Saturday, have crossed over into a more mainstream market.
Sueños has quickly become a staple of the city, recognizing the presence and economic power of Latinos in Chicago and across the nation. Though attendees vary in background, the majority are young Latinos. A line with hundreds of festival goers wrapped along Michigan Avenue as they waited to enter the festival Saturday. Several said they had been in line for more than an hour.
The two-day festival is presented by the producers behind Baja Beach Fest, Chicago’s Reventon Promotion and C3 Presents, the Live Nation subsidiary that also puts together Lollapalooza.
Laura Rodríguez Presa
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