Chicago Latino Dance Festival kicks off 4th Annual Edition with celebrated Afro-Colombian Ensemble
The Chicago Latino Dance Festival returns this year with its biggest lineup yet: fourteen dance companies performing across two free, public events — although suggested donations are available if you would want to support programming such as this throughout Chicago….
Executive Director Mulcahy Reorganizes Staff and Responsibilities at ILCC and CLFF to Better Address Operational Realities
Chicago, IL • International Latino Cultural Center’s Executive Director Mateo Mulcahy has announced expanded roles for two longtime members of the Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) team, a restructuring intended to better align staff responsibilities with the operational demands of an organization entering its 43rd Festival…
Chicago Latino Film Festival Opens Early Submissions for 43rd Edition
Chicago, IL • Independent filmmakers from across Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean, and the United States will soon have the opportunity to submit their work for one of the country’s longest-running showcases of Latino cinema. The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC)…
Sabor Boricua Rolls Into Riis Park: Sofrito Rico Joins the Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series! 🌮🥁
Belmont Cragin, get ready — because the hottest free event of the Chicago summer just got even better. The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago is thrilled to welcome Sofrito Rico, Chicago’s beloved Puerto Rican food truck, as the newest…
A New Chapter for the ILCC: Mateo Mulcahy Steps Into the Executive Director Role
On July 1, Mateo Mulcahy officially took the helm as Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC), stepping into the role after Founder and Executive Director Emeritus Pepe Vargas announced his retirement last month due to…
A Fitting Farewell: Chicago Bids Pepe Vargas a Legendary Goodbye
CHICAGO — On June 30th, in a room filled with 42 years of history, Pepe Vargas did something he rarely allowed himself to do: he let Chicago’s Latino cultural community honor him instead of the other way around. The founder and…
A Message From Our Founder: Pepe Vargas Steps Down After 42 Years
In 1985, Pepe Vargas launched the Chicago Latino Film Festival with just 14 films and no institutional backing behind him — only a conviction that Chicago’s Latino community deserved a platform of its own. That modest first edition grew into…
A Legacy Written in Film, Music, and Community: Thank You, Pepe Vargas
After more than four decades of building one of Chicago’s most beloved cultural institutions, ILCC Founder and Executive Director Pepe Vargas steps into a well-earned retirement. There are people who change a room when they walk in. And then there are…
Come get your VIBE in Belmont Cragin This Summer – 10 Concerts; All Free
Chicago’s Most Electrifying Free Concert Series Is Back — and This Summer, Riis Park Becomes the Center of the Latin Musical Universe There’s a park in Belmont Cragin where, every summer since 2024, something extraordinary happens. As the sun fades…
La Fuerza de Mamá: Latina Mothers, the Heart That Never Stops Beating
A Mother’s Day Tribute from the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago There is a particular kind of power that does not announce itself with fanfare or press releases. It does not wait for applause. It rises before the sun…