Mexican Independence Day Festival to return to West Chicago after hiatus

A few months ago, it was uncertain if West Chicago would hold its Mexican Independence Day Festival.

With new leadership in place and the city council's recent approval, the event is set to return after a hiatus.

The festival is scheduled for Sept. 14, from noon to 6 p.m., on Main Street at Galena Street in downtown West Chicago.

“Everybody is bringing their piece to the puzzle,” said first-term Alderman Julieta Alcántar-Garcia, who started assembling pieces before taking office on May 5.

Alcántar-Garcia, a co-founder of Despertar Latino, a Villa Park-based cultural and social service organization for Hispanic residents, played a key role in connecting the group’s leaders — Rafael Vieyra and Sugeira Tellez — with West Chicago officials, including special events coordinator Nicolette Stefan and business and communications director Kelley Chrisse.

Partners for the event include the Mexican Cultural Center of DuPage, WeGo Together for Kids, and Casa Michoacan DuPage, with several other organizations providing support.

The festival, featuring the traditional “El Grito” bell-ringing ceremony as well as a 13-foot donkey piñata, food, music and dancing wasn’t held last year.

Previously, the Mexican Independence Day Festival was hosted by the Mexican Cultural Center of DuPage.

In 2024 the group was preoccupied with its series of outdoor art installations, “Olmec Trails.”

The festival was held in 2023, said West Chicago marketing and communications manager Daniel Peck, but “the weather was so bad that it was canceled after a few hours.”

Stefan said the goal was to bring it back. She met with interested organizations, including Despertar Latino, in May.

“That was our hope … that someone new could come forward to put it together,” she said. “We were lucky that a couple of groups came forward to help put it together and make it happen.”

Organizers have already started meeting to plan the Sept. 14 event.

“We have to start working now, and then get nervous until that day,” Vieyra said.

“We want to show everything, the best that we have, especially our culture, our essence and our art,” he said.

Organizers are aware that Sept. 14 will arrive quickly.

“In this small amount of time we have,” Alcántar-Garcia said, “we want to make sure we have something substantial.”