Villapalooza Returns To Little Village This Weekend

Written by Vocalo Radio on August 25, 2023

One-day free Latin music festival Villapalooza is back home in Little Village on Saturday. Festival organizer Vanessa Sanchez stopped by the Vocalo studios on Thursday afternoon to discuss what attendees can expect from this year’s festivities.

Begun in 2011, Villapalooza spotlights local and up-and-coming talent in a space accessible to the community as a whole. Described on their website as “a collective of Latine community members that come together to create safe spaces for arts and culture,” this year’s festival is back in the historic Little Village (at 26th and Central Park) and features a lineup of almost all Chicago artists. Prominent performers include KAINA, Mila La Morena, Mariah Colon, DJ Greedy and Vocalo’s Jesse De La Peña.

^{Vanessa Sanchez stopped by the Vocalo studios on August 24 to discuss the upcoming free music festival Villapalooza, set for August 26. Morgan Ciocca/Vocalo Radio}

Villapalooza is entirely volunteer-run in order to keep the event free and accessible to community members. Vanessa Sanchez has been one of those volunteers since Villapalooza’s inception, and is now vice president of the festival’s board of directors. She stopped by the Vocalo studios on August 24 to sit down with afternoons host Nudia Hernandez and break down the festival’s community significance, as well as what attendees can expect from Saturday’s event.

Those interested in attending can find more info on the festival website, and the performance schedule on Facebook.