Latino Voices

Sueños Music Festival Returning to Grant Park for 4th Year


Get ready to salsa, bachata and cumbia in Grant Park again this spring. Sueños Music Festival is soon returning for its fourth year.

The celebration of Latino culture features musical artists from across Latin America, this time bringing Shakira, Don Omar, Peso Pluma and more to the stage.

All the while, Sueños has found ways to incorporate and support local arts initiatives, according to Aaron Ampudia, co-founder of Sueños Music Festival.

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“We were coming into Chicago, and we know it’s one of the biggest Latino cities in the U.S., so we wanted to not only give them an experience, to celebrate the culture, but also impact the community in a positive way,” Ampudia said. “And we’ve been doing it since Year 1.”

One of the groups Sueños supports is the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center. With donations from the festival, the organization opened a youth media center and funded a trip for its group, La Cantera, to perform and learn at a Puerto Rican jazz festival.

Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center Executive Director Omar Torres-Kortright called the support “transformational.”

“Not only do we have opportunities like the ones that they provided for some of our artists to even be, like, part of the roaming performances that they did last year, but also the investment in young people,” Torres-Kortright said.

Ampudia said returning each year and seeing the impact can “te llena corazon” — fill your heart.

“It’s not only writing a check, but I always ask, like, what else can we do?” Ampudia said. “Can we get them into the festival playing some stuff? Can we try to bring in artists, to have them get uplifted, right? … So it’s super cool. It gives you, like, a purpose.”

The festival runs May 24-25 in Grant Park.


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