The largest Midwest Latinx music festival took over Grant Park on Memorial Day weekend as Sueños returned for its fourth year. The two-day festival attracted thousands of festival goers with a heavyweight lineup featuring the likes of Shakira, Don Omar, El Alfa, Wisin and the return of Peso Pluma.
Last year’s festivities came to an abrupt end when Peso Pluma’s performance was canceled due to weather conditions that prompted the city to evacuate tens of thousands of attendees. This year, while temperatures were on the cooler side, they didn’t stop attendees from showing up in their best western and urban fits.
The traditional single-stage setup was reimagined into three distinct stages: the main Sueños stage, a more intimate Buckingham Fountain-side setup dubbed La Fuente, and a town square-inspired space called La Plaza. La Fuente primarily hosted DJ sets, while La Plaza shined a spotlight on regional Mexican talent, including local bands like Vanguardia, Grupo Sekta, and Los K-Bros.
On day one, Peso Pluma made it up to Chicagoans with a long-awaited performance, even bringing out Tito Double P as a special guest. Fans were also treated to a two-hour set by Shakira, who brought her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour to the Sueños main stage, serving up a tasting menu of modern hits alongside nostalgic favorites like “Hips Don’t Lie” and “She Wolf.”
Throughout the weekend, genres seamlessly blended from tribal, cumbia, reggaetón, and corridos pulsed through the grounds in a celebration of Latin American roots.
Sunday brought back-to-back iconic DJ sets to the La Fuente stage, like Mexican trio 3BallMTY and followed by Mexican American DJ Deorro, who surprised the crowd by bringing out rapper Santa Fe Klan to perform their new track “La Bandera.”
The festival came to a powerful close with the reggaeton King of Kings, Don Omar, who reminded everyone that his catalog is nothing short of timeless bangers like “Ella y Yo,” “Danza Kuduro,” and “Virtual Diva.”
Chicago’s own “diva virtual,” Karenoid, took over the Corona Lime Lounge with DJ sets on both days. The South Sider took the opportunity to tease the audience by mixing some of her original tracks from her upcoming Digitona EP. “My EP is inspired by digital maximalism and also perreo del nasty, del bueno,” Kareniod said as she licked a bright red lollipop.
The Mexican American artist says her frequent DJ sets in Mexico City have been a major source of inspiration for her latest musical ventures. Drawing from reggaetón mexa, Mexico’s homegrown take on the genre, and neo perreo, a subgenre shaped by digital culture and internet aesthetics, Kareniod believes it’s time for Chicago to tap in and she’s ready to lead the way.
“Reggaeton mexa has been going on since 2013, 2014. People don’t realize that Mexico has been grinding and creating and carving their own flavor of reggaeton,” Kareniod said to the Weekly. “My goal is to put a flag down in Chicago, South Side Chicago. There’s a new neoperro queen—that’s me.”
Reggaeton mexa has been catapulting and Sueños brought two pioneers to the main stage with El Malilla and Bellakath. And while Kareniod was DJing this time, she is planting the seed to come back as a performer on the stage rather than behind the decks.
Kareniod is intentional down to her look. Her custom outfits, microchip broaches, and colorful wigs play tribute to her music. The fifth track, “MARiPOSA MSN,” off her upcoming EP set to drop June 13 is a seamless blend of coquette aesthetics and cyber-era references.
Sueños festival organizers leveled up by incorporating smaller activations and lounge areas across the grounds, giving rising talent more space to shine. The Toyota Music Den also spotlighted emerging artists with intimate sets, including San Diego Chicano artist Eddie Zuko.
Zuko delivered a dynamic thirty-minute set, blending tracks from his 2024 album Abajo Del Sol with fan favorites like “Made” and “La Flor” from his 2017 EP. His sound is anchored in rap with melodic undertones and subtle touches of reggae. Rooted in his Mexican American identity, Zuko’s lyrics resonate deeply as he weaves in themes of love, struggle, and everyday life with a universal appeal.
“ I live right there. I could just walk across [the Mexico-US] border and then learning, ‘Oh no, there’s Mexicans in Chicago. Actually, there’s a lot of Mexicans!’ There’s a lot of other different Latinos too,” Zuko told the Weekly, referencing the first time he visited Chicago. This is Zuko’s second time in the Chi but seeing fans sing along and relate to lyrics makes him feel like he’s not that far away from San Diego.
“ Coming and doing the shows and you see the people out the crowd. It feels like home,” Zuko said. He’s expecting a baby girl and is also working on new music that continues to harness his individual style.
Another artist that teased new music is Deorro who said not this upcoming album, but the next one will be an ode to rock en español. He attributes his motivation and inspiration from festivals like Sueños.
“Chicago never fails me. It’s such a beautiful place. I mean, look at the lineup,” Deorro said to the Weekly. “It’s kind of a reminder like, ‘Hey, this is what happens when you work harder.’”
Being a part of Sueños is like a dream come true for many people that get to be a part of it. Not only is the festival a way to experience and tap into new artists, it also allows local businesses to put themselves out there.
Lilith’s Side is a holistic shop that sells anything from cleansing sprays to herbs and roots for healing. Founded by afromexicana Jetziba Calvin, Lilith’s Side was not only selling their homemade curative products but also offering tarot card readings and prints of Calvin’s personal photography.
“I’ve done so many events I’ve organized, and project managed so many different things, but this, I think, was the biggest scale,” Calvin said.
Calvin sees the invitation to be a part of the festival’s Mercadito vendor section as a blessing and something that came from her work rooted in positivity and transformative power.
“From the moment that you open your eyes, how you speak into life, and how you move through life and connect with others, that is a spell in itself,” Calvin said.
This positivity radiated in other vendor stands like the Sin Titulo shop. Sin Titulo was co-founded by sisters Irais, Diana and Itzel Elizarraraz as an apparel shop but has grown into a bigger project with mental health awareness campaigns and events centered around personal growth.
One item that they intentionally made sure to bring to the festival was their immigrant angel design. “That is the intention of switching the script of where [immigrants are] seen in a negative light and how we can depict ourselves in a positive light,” Irais said.
“The festival is called Sueños and we believe that everyone has the right to have their dreams be accomplished wherever, regardless of a border wall.”
That sentiment echoed across the park all weekend, where dreams weren’t just performed on stage. A dynamic festival like Sueños reflects the many layers of Latinx identity, expression and ambition. The festival offers a space where music, tradition and dreams coexist. In a city like Chicago with deep Latinx roots, it’s imperative to have spaces like Sueños that carve out spaces and affirm our experiences.
Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales is a Mexican American independent journalist from Belmont Cragin who is passionate about covering communities of color through a social justice lens. She is a senior editor at the Weekly.