There’s a park in Belmont Cragin where, every summer since 2024, something extraordinary happens. As the sun fades over the horizon the sounds of Latin America fill the air behind the Riis Park Pool House. People gather and magic happens. Blankets are laid on the grass, lawn chairs set and coolers brought set the tone. And then the music starts — and for two hours, you receive a passport to Latin America’s international flair. You are in the mountains of Puerto Rico. You are in the streets of Cali. You are in a flamenco tablaos in Sevilla. You are on the shores of Lake Maracaibo at dusk.

Welcome! You are at Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series — and admission is forever FREE.

Now in its 2026 edition, the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago (ILCC) and the Levitt Family Foundation are bringing back the series that has quietly become one of the great summer music events in Belmont Cragin. Ten consecutive Saturdays. Ten distinct worlds of Latin music. One beautiful park at 6100 W. Fullerton Ave. in the heart of Belmont Cragin.

This isn’t a festival. It’s a neighborhood connecting to something different, or perhaps something familiar.

THE STAGE IS SET — AND THE LINEUP IS A JOURNEY

The 2026 Levitt VIBE season opens June 13 with the warmth and accordion-driven poetry of Arpa Café & Vallenato Deluxe, bringing Chicago a taste of Colombian vallenato — the music Gabriel García Márquez called the soul of that country’s Caribbean coast. In a beautiful convergence of cultural celebration. This event is supported by Gran Festival Colombiano Chicago. Expect color, emotion, and cumbia hips from the very first note.

From there, the series moves like a musical passport through the breadth of the Latin world.

June 20 belongs to Cepillao Band, serving high-octane urban Latin rhythms built for one purpose: to make the entire park dance. Then June 27 brings a powerful double bill — Cuevo Perez & Almafuerte — a pairing that promises passion, depth, and the kind of musical conversation you only get when two strong acts share a stage.

After our own national Independence Day break on July 4th, July 11 delivers what may be the season’s most musically rare evening: Prodigio y su Rumba Jíbara. The jíbaro tradition — the mountain folk music of Puerto Rico — is one of the most soul-stirring sounds in the Caribbean, often overshadowed by reggaeton and salsa in American concert venues. Not here. Not on this stage. A night of ensueño boricua like no other awaits you.

On July 18, we celebrate Colombian Independence Day with Las Guaracheras, an all female salsa group from Cali. Their repertoire spans Afro-Caribbean rhythms such as salsa, as well as music from Colombia’s Pacific region. Their performance  promises to bring joy, movement, and the spirit of the Caribbean to Chicago’s northwest side. Don’t leave home without your dancing shoes.

Then comes July 25, the night that may be the biggest night of the series: an all-out Venezuelan music spectacular featuring Tamanaco Tambor, Sol Five Band, MOXI VZ, Andrés Correa, and JV Ninety — five acts drawing on Venezuela’s staggering musical diversity, from Afro-Venezuelan percussion to contemporary pop. The evening is supported by Panas en Chicago, the Chicago-based nonprofit founded by Venezuelans to support their community and honor the culture that shaped them. This is not a concert. This is a homecoming.

August 1 brings the dramatic shift in temperature that only flamenco can deliver. Casa Triana carries the fire of Andalusia — the stomp of the zapateado, the cry of the cante jondo, the arc of the braceo — to a Chicago park. Flamenco live, outdoors, under the summer sky is something you do not forget. Bring your vino tinto and abanico and let’s witness el duende together!

If August 8’s headliner Making Movies doesn’t already have a permanent spot in your music rotation, consider this your intervention. The Kansas City-born quartet has been making critics and fans lose their minds for years with a sound that refuses to be boxed in — cumbia, rock, soul, norteño, and activist energy fused into something that hits harder than it has any right to. Making Movies’ catalog includes collaborations with Rubén Blades, Asdru Sierra (Ozomatli), Mireya Ramos (Flor de Toloache), and David Hidalgo (Los Lobos). This is the show you’ll talk about at work on Monday.

August 15 turns the percussion up to eleven as Plenazo Tribe brings the plena — Puerto Rico’s Afro-Caribbean drum-driven tradition of communal storytelling — to the northwest side. Plenazo Tribe recently performed on the NFL Halftime Show with Bad Bunny. Bodies will move. It’s not optional.

And on August 22, the 2026 Levitt VIBE season closes with the full spectacle of Mexican banda music: Banda La Enkantadora & Los Gallos bring the brass, the energy, and the sheer joy of a tradition that fills stadiums in Mexico and is finally getting its flowers in Chicago. The series finale promises to send the summer out not with a whimper, but with a wall of sound.

WHY THIS MATTERS MORE THAN EVER

In a summer when so many live music experiences come with a cover charge, a wristband, and a $20 parking fee, Levitt VIBE Chicago is a radical act of generosity. No tickets. No VIP section. No barrier between the music and the people who need it most.

“When you bring together artists rooted in traditions from across Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Brazil—all on one stage, in one neighborhood—you create something truly special,” said Mateo Mulcahy, Acting Executive Director of the ILCC and Series Producer. “Riis Park becomes an active space of the Latino world music and neighbors of Belmont Cragin and beyond have a chance to experience it live, in person and absolutely free.”

YOUR SUMMER PLANS JUST CHANGED

Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series 2026  Riis Park | 6100 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60639 

Every Saturday, June 13 – August 22, 2026 (no concert July 4) 

Music 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Rain or shine  FREE. No tickets required.

Bring a blanket. Bring a lawn chair. Bring the whole crew. Coolers welcome.

This is what summer in Chicago is supposed to sound like.

Visit our front page to get all the deets.

The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago is a Pan-Latino nonprofit arts organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and increasing awareness of Latino cultures. The Levitt Family Foundation supports nonprofits across the country in activating underused public spaces through free, live music.

Visit our front page to get all the deets.

With the hiring in January, 2022 of Mateo Mulcahy, former Director of Community Projects and Events at the Old Town School of Folk Music, as the ILCC’s Deputy Executive Director and music and dance curator, the Chicago Latino Music began to take shape.

He walked through the ILCC’s doors with guns a-blazing. Not only did he add the ILCC as a co-presenter to the many World Music Wednesdays concerts he had already scheduled at the Old Town School of Folk Music for the year before his departure. Under his leadership, the ILCC presented and co-presented concerts featuring such high profile artists as Alex Cuba (the musical guest of the ILCC’s fundraising dinner on November 14), Los Van Van, Chilean singer-songwriter Pascuala Ilabaca, and São Paulo musician and educator Paulo Padilha. 

The 2022 Chicago latino Music Series wrapped up the year with an equally eclectic lineup which included: a Zapotec folk dance troupe (Galguez Laxá) and a Zapotec rock group (Dizá) as part of the city of Chicago’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations; explores the influences of Middle Eastern music on Andalusia, Spain (The Andalusian Trail and flamenco guitarist Juan Carmona); presented 16-year-old guitar prodigy Juan Ausiàs Parejo from Valencia; and celebrated the tradition of las tunas (that dates back to 13th century Spain and Portugal when students went about singing and playing music out of the pure need to survive and pay their school fees) with La Tuna de Oro de Guanajuato. 

The following year, produced 33 music concerts in 18 venues, featuring some big names including: Olga Cerpa, one of the most important female voices in the Canary Islands, and her group Mestisay at the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center in the West side neighborhood of Hermosa; Juan de Marco González and his Afro-Cuban All Stars at Dominican University’s Lund Auditorium in the suburb of River Forest; Argentinian rocker Kevin Johansen and graphic designer and illustrator Liniers collaborating on a multimedia show at the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Afro-Peruvian folk-electronica group Novalima as part of that year’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration at Chop Shop, a music venue/restaurant/butcher shop located in the Wicker Park neighborhood; and son jarocho legends Mono Blanco at Instituto Cervantes. 

When it comes to big names, however, the ILCC took a big gamble by joining forces with national events producer Backstage Productions to present the Chicago debut of samba superstar Zeca Pagondinho on June 14 at The Vic Theater. Born Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Zeca started his career as a child in the 1970s and became a regular performer in samba gatherings, where he perfected a samba style known as Pagode. This new style triggered a samba revival in the 1980s, when Zeca became known as its true face. It was in the most important of these pagodes, the one that gathered the bloco carnavalesco Cacique de Ramos, that he became acquainted with another samba legend, Beth Carvalho, who became his madrinha, or protector. Does that name ring a bell? 

Last year, the ILCC launched the inaugural season of the Levitt VIBE Belmont Cragin Music Series at Riis Park, in the far northwest mostly Latino community of Belmont Cragin. Supported in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, which partners with changemakers and nonprofits across the country to activate underused outdoor spaces through the power of free, live music, the series featured a mix of local, national, and international artists (some making their Chicago debut) from across the Latino diaspora for 10 consecutive weeks from mid-June to mid-August,. Artists included: the cumbia-punk-queer group Kumbia Queers; Montreal-based Haitian musician Wesli; singer-songwriter Sara Curruchich, the first indigenous Guatemalan singer and songwriter to sing in Kaqchikel; and Chicago’s ESSO Afrojam Funkbeat.

Speaking of Chicago debuts, the ILCC joined forces with the Instituto Cervantes to bring two of the most exciting, innovative flamenco women performers as part of Cervantes’ annual Flamenco Festival in March of last year: María José Llergo and Las Migas. Llergo had already been the subject of a New York Times article that helped elevate her profile in the United States while Las Migas were celebrating their 20th anniversary with a new lineup and a Latin Grammy award in 2022 for their album Libres in their pockets. Las Migas would return to Chicago for an encore performance on November 15 at the Old Town School of Folk Music to present their brand new album Rumberas, a tribute to rumba in all its forms.

Another highlight of what turned out to be a hectic 2024 series was a program of two concerts the ILCC titled The Galicia/Portugal Connection, an exploration, through music, of the cultural ties that bind Portugal with Galicia, in the Northwest region of Spain. The series featured the return to Chicago, after ten years, of acclaimed Galician bagpipe player Carlos Núñez. Considered the “7th member of The Chieftains” and proclaimed the “Jimi Hendrix of bagpipes” by Billboard. The concert, produced in partnership with the Irish American Heritage Center and with community partner Instituto Cervantes, was held at the Irish American Heritage Center on October 15.

Then, on November 2, fado sensation Carminho kicked off her US tour at City Winery, to support the release of the EP Carminho at Electrical Audio, which was co-produced and engineered by the late Steve Albini in his Chicago studio, Electrical Audio. Albini is known for his work with some of the finest musicians including Nirvana, Page & Plant, and The Pixies, among others. The EP includes a duet with the iconic Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso.

Lessons learned from last year’s Levitt VIBE Belmont Cragin Music Series were applied this year to the Levitt VIBE Chicago Music Series. Instead of mid-afternoon, most concerts would start after 6 pm, guaranteeing a larger audience. Through social media, the ILCC reached out to neighborhood organizations and businesses to get out of the word. The concerts were still held on Saturdays from mid-June to mid-August but instead of taking place in one park, the series expanded to four: Riis Park and, on the south and southwest side, La Villita Park, Gage Park and Rainbow Beach. For the first time in its history, the ILCC featured Regional Mexican Music as part of its programming through this summer series with performances from local stalwarts La Ley del Norte, Banda el Recuerdo and Grupo Love Secreto. This year’s series also featured the Chicago debut of Las Karamba, an all-female ensemble based in Barcelona that brings together six musicians from Venezuela, Cuba, Catalonia, France, and Argentina who infuse traditional styles like Son, Cha-Cha-Cha, Salsa, and Timba with rap and urban influences. 

Outside of the Levitt series, the ILCC was far more judicious and strategic when it came to the number of concerts produced this year, especially given this current administration’s attack on the arts Besides after-Levitt shows for Los Crema Paraíso and Dos Santos at Fitzgerald, a second show of Las Karamba at the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center and multiple appearances by Los Gaiteros de Pueblo Santo at outdoor events and indoor venues during the summer, the ILCC also presented two kickass jazz shows at Constellation: Paquito D’Rivera, Fareed Haque and multi-instrumentalist Howard Levy on May 14, followed on June 6 by Puerto Rican trumpetist Charlie Sepúlveda and his band The Turnaround with Eligio “Prodigio” Claudio in the Puerto Rican cuatro.

What will the Chicago Latino Music Series look like in 2026 and beyond? Well, that’s where you, our dear reader and supporter, come in:

As part of its fundraising campaign commemorating its 25th anniversary, the International Latino Cultural Center will be hosting a dinner celebration at CineCity Studios, 2429 West 14th St. on Friday, November 14, featuring a solo performance from Grammy® and Latin Grammy® Award winning artist Alex Cuba and the very best in Latino cuisine. Doors open at 6 p.m. For more information, visit the ILCC’s official fundraising dinner page. 

Unable to make the event? Never fear, you can still be part of our campaign with your individual contribution. Every single bit helps our mission to preserve in the city of Chicago a space for Pan-Latino arts in all its glorious disciplines. For more information on individual giving visit our individual giving page.

The International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago is a 501(3)(c) nonprofit cultural organization. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by the law.