CHICAGO — Michelada Fest Chicago 2026 has been canceled, according to an announcement Friday from presenter Windy City Events Management.

The cancellation comes just three weeks before the festival was slated to take over Union Park from June 26-28 with three days of Latin pop, R&B, Mexican regional and reggaeton music, including by the expected headliners Latin Mafia, Jhayco, Jessie Reyez and Sean Paul.

Organizers blamed rising costs for the cancellation and pledged that all tickets would be refunded within 90 to 120 days. According to the announcement: “The costs of producing a festival of this scale have risen rapidly across the board, to a point where the team could not move forward with the production.” In most cases, they said, ticket refunds will be returned to the original form of payment.

A spokesperson told the Tribune that those production costs included venue fees, security, insurance, infrastructure and staffing, and that no one factor forced the cancellation.

“We built this from nothing — from loft parties and empty rooms to one of Chicago’s biggest Latino music festivals,” said co-owners Fernando Nieto and Miguel Torres in a statement. “Part of being independent means we can be honest with our community. We carry the same financial risks as major corporations, but without the same capital to absorb those pressures.”

More information will be posted at michefest.live.

This summer marks the second year in a row that Michelada Fest has not gone on. The 2025 festival, planned for late July at Oakwood Beach, was scrapped in May, with the cancellation attributed to concerns over artist travel and visas amid crackdowns by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago in the weeks leading up to Operation Midway Blitz.

In place of the 2026 event, Windy City Events Management pledged a street festival Sept. 18-20: “The festival will return as a free street festival, no tickets, no barriers, bringing together vendors, música, and the community that started it all. A suggested donation to La Casa Norte, which serves Chicagoans facing housing insecurity, will be encouraged. Vendors who were part of the 2026 festival will also have space at Windy City Margarita Fest from August 6 to 8.”

According to the spokesperson, the street festival will take place at Cermak and Canalport, the location of the original festival. The 2024 event at Oakwood Beach reportedly had a daily attendance of some 10,000 people. This summer was to be the festival’s first in Union Park.

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