West Chicago's Viva Mexico Independence Day Festival and Parade canceled

The City of West Chicago has been notified that this year's Viva Mexico Independence Day Festival and Parade, scheduled for Sept. 18-19, has been canceled.

The following is a statement from the Festival and Parade Committee:

"The Viva Mexico" Festival and Parade Committee in West Chicago has made the difficult decision to cancel the Sept. 18-19 event.

Given the current uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 variants and the rapid growth of interest and participation in our parade and festival, this decision was made in the interest of public safety, as well as concerns surrounding the quality of the event.

Further, public safety is a primary concern for the committee. While potential public safety mitigation policies and standards were considered for participants and spectators, it was determined that in this case it would be difficult to implement and enforce them along a parade and festival route with no defined points of ingress and egress. This decision is not one that is made lightly and we thank you all for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you at next year's event."