Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series — KICK-OFF

Saturday, June 13, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Riis Park · Behind the Field House · 6100 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago FREE · All Ages · Open to the Public

Summer is officially ON. Join us for the grand kick-off of the Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series — 10 straight Saturdays of world-class live music, right in the heart of the Belmont Cragin neighborhood in Chicago’s Northwest side. No tickets. No cover. Just great music under the open sky.

We’re launching the season with two acts that will have you on your feet before the first song ends.

🎵 Arpa Café

Chicago’s own folkloric gem, Arpa Café takes you on a musical journey through the living landscapes of Colombia. Founded and directed by master harpist Daniel Rojas, the ensemble weaves the llanera harp — the soul instrument of Colombia’s vast llanos plains — into a rich conversation with vocals, strings, and the traditional percussion of multiple regions. From the mountains to the Caribbean coast, from the Pacific shore to the sweeping plains shared with Venezuela, Arpa Café brings out the full, dazzling diversity of Colombian music in a single performance. Elegant, earthy, and completely alive — this is Colombian folklore told the way it was meant to be heard.

🪗 Vallenato Deluxe

Get ready for the accordion-driven heartbeat of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Vallenato Deluxe brings the irresistible rhythms of vallenato — the beloved folk music of the Colombian coast recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage — with a polished, high-energy flair that is equal parts tradition and celebration. Powered by accordion, caja drum, and guacharaca, their sound is joyful, soulful, and built for dancing. Whether you know every classic or you’re hearing vallenato for the very first time, you won’t be able to stand still.

🗓️ The Series

This is just Week 1. Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series runs every Saturday through August 22, 2026 — 10 weeks, 10 nights of free music, all in your neighborhood. Bring the family. Bring a blanket. Make it your summer tradition.

🚌 Getting Here by Public Transit

Easiest route: Take the CTA Red, Brown, or Purple Line to the Fullerton Station, then board the #74 Fullerton Bus heading west. Ride it to N. Narragansett Ave. (6400 W.) — you’ll be steps from the park entrance on Fullerton. The bus runs frequently on Saturday evenings.

Prefer to navigate on your own? Use the CTA Trip Planner at transitchicago.com or Google Maps — enter 6100 W. Fullerton Ave. as your destination.

🅿️ Free street parking is also available in the surrounding neighborhood.

🌟 About the Levitt Foundation

The Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series is made possible through the generous support of the Levitt Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to building community through the power of free, live music. By activating underused public spaces across the country, the Levitt Foundation creates welcoming, inclusive destinations where people of all ages and backgrounds can connect through shared cultural experiences. Levitt VIBE — Vibrant, Inclusive Beats for Everyone — brings that mission directly to neighborhoods like Belmont Cragin, putting world-class performances where they belong: in the heart of the community. Learn more at levitt.org.

Presented by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago in partnership with the Chicago Park District.

FREE. Outdoors. Open to All. See you at the park! 🌿

Promotional Support by:

The Gran Festival Colombiano de Chicago — now in its 12th annual edition — is widely regarded as the premier Colombian festival in the United States. Held over three days, July 17, 18, and 19, 2026, at Humboldt Park on Chicago’s Northwest Side, the event draws thousands of families and visitors from across the Midwest to celebrate Colombian Independence Day through live music, traditional dance, authentic cuisine, and a vibrant carnival parade showcasing the colors and costumes of Colombia’s rich cultural heritage. This year’s lineup features Guayacán Orquesta, José Alberto “El Canario,” Yeison Landero, and Vallenato Deluxe, among other acclaimed artists.

Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series — Week 2

Saturday, June 20, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Riis Park · Behind the Field House · 6100 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago FREE · All Ages · Open to the Public

Last week we kicked off the summer right. This week, we turn it up. The Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series rolls into Week 2 with one of Illinois’s most electrifying live acts — a band that brings the heart and heat of Venezuela straight to the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. No tickets. No cover. Just bring yourself and room to dance. Don’t forget a beach blanket, a cooler and perhaps some shades.

🎹 Cepillao Band

Eight musicians. One unstoppable groove. Illinois-based Cepillao Band is a powerhouse Venezuelan ensemble that has been setting Chicago dance floors on fire since 2017. Founded and led by Manasés Rivera on keyboards — a Maracaibo native with serious tropical chops — the band draws its members from across the Latin American diaspora: Venezuela, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico all have a seat in this ensemble, and you can hear every bit of that richness when they play.

The name says it all: cepillao refers to a percussive, rhythmic strumming technique deeply rooted in Venezuelan popular music, and that drive — that relentless, joyful forward momentum — is exactly what this band delivers. From tropical salsa to Venezuelan dance rhythms, their sound is polished, high-energy, and built for a crowd that wants to move. Catch them live and you’ll understand why Chicago keeps calling them back.

📅 The Series

9 more Saturdays to go. Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series runs every Saturday through August 29, 2026 — free music, open air, right in your neighborhood. Bring the family. Bring a blanket. Make it your summer tradition.

🚌 Getting Here by Public Transit

Easiest route: Take the CTA Red, Brown, or Purple Line to the Fullerton Station, then board the #74 Fullerton Bus heading west. Ride it to N. Narragansett Ave. (6400 W.) — you’ll be steps from the park entrance on Fullerton. The bus runs frequently on Saturday evenings.

Prefer to navigate on your own? Use the CTA Trip Planner at transitchicago.com or Google Maps — enter 6100 W. Fullerton Ave. as your destination.

🅿️ Free street parking is also available in the surrounding neighborhood.

🌟 About the Levitt Foundation

The Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series is made possible through the generous support of the Levitt Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to building community through the power of free, live music. By activating underused public spaces across the country, the Levitt Foundation creates welcoming, inclusive destinations where people of all ages and backgrounds can connect through shared cultural experiences. Levitt VIBE — Vibrant, Inclusive Beats for Everyone — brings that mission directly to neighborhoods like Belmont Cragin, putting world-class performances where they belong: in the heart of the community. Learn more at levitt.org.

Presented by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago in partnership with the Chicago Park District.

FREE. Outdoors. Open to All. See you at the park! 🌿

Levitt VIBE Chicago Free Concert Series — Concert 4 of 10

Saturday, July 11, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Riis Park · Behind the Field House · 6100 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago FREE · All Ages · Open to the Public

The fireworks are over. The summer is still very much alive. After a week off for the nation’s 250th birthday, the Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series returns to Riis Park with something truly special — a living legend of Puerto Rican music and the sound of the island’s mountain soul, brought straight to Belmont Cragin. No tickets. No cover. Just bring a blanket and room in your heart.

🎵 Prodigio y Su Rumba Jíbara

Some musicians play an instrument. Prodigio Claudio is the instrument. Hailed worldwide as the Cuatro Ambassador to the World, Prodigio is the undisputed master of Puerto Rico’s national stringed instrument — the cuatro — and a living pillar of música jíbara, the soulful folk tradition rooted in the island’s mountain heartland. With more than 45 years as a professional musician, his name is synonymous with the very best of Puerto Rican folk artistry, cited alongside the legends of the cuatro tradition across generations.

When Prodigio plays, something ancient and alive fills the air. The ten-string cuatro rings out in brilliant, cascading runs. The rhythms of seis and aguinaldo — the soul-forms of jíbaro music — move through the crowd like memory. Together with Su Rumba Jíbara, his ensemble brings the full warmth and joy of Puerto Rican folklore to an outdoor stage, where it was always meant to be heard — under open sky, by anyone who wants to listen.

This is Puerto Rican roots music at its highest level. Don’t miss it.

📅 The Series

6 more Saturdays to go. Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series runs every Saturday through August 22, 2026 — free music, open air, right in your neighborhood. Bring the family. Bring a blanket. Make it your summer tradition.

🚌 Getting Here by Public Transit

Easiest route: Take the CTA Red, Brown, or Purple Line to the Fullerton Station, then board the #74 Fullerton Bus heading west. Ride it to N. Narragansett Ave. (6400 W.) — you’ll be steps from the park entrance on Fullerton. The bus runs frequently on Saturday evenings.

Prefer to navigate on your own? Use the CTA Trip Planner at transitchicago.com or Google Maps — enter 6100 W. Fullerton Ave. as your destination.

🅿️ Free street parking is also available in the surrounding neighborhood.

🌟 About the Levitt Foundation

The Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series is made possible through the generous support of the Levitt Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to building community through the power of free, live music. By activating underused public spaces across the country, the Levitt Foundation creates welcoming, inclusive destinations where people of all ages and backgrounds can connect through shared cultural experiences. Levitt VIBE — Vibrant, Inclusive Beats for Everyone — brings that mission directly to neighborhoods like Belmont Cragin, putting world-class performances where they belong: in the heart of the community. Learn more at levitt.org.

Presented by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago in partnership with the Chicago Park District.

FREE. Outdoors. Open to All. See you at the park! 🌿