Performances at the Sueños festival were canceled and crowds turned away due to rain and thunderstorms minutes after Maluma took the stage in Chicago's Grant Park on Sunday (May 26).
Around 8 p.m. local time, festival organizers sent an email, which was received Advertising signwith the latest update, which was also shared on social media. “Weather evacuation, calmly head to nearest exit,” they wrote on Instagram. “Unfortunately, the event ended due to weather. The gates will not open again.”
The sudden end to the festival comes hours after the second day of the event was delayed due to severe weather warnings. The first update came around 8am, with the announcement that the festival would be delayed. Five hours later, organizers said doors would open at 4pm (instead of noon) and revealed a shuffled and shorter line-up. Minutes before the doors opened, they re-added previously removed artists such as Bad Gyal and Gabito Ballesteros.
The Peso Pluma was due to close on Sunday. Minutes after the festival was officially cancelled, he took to Instagram Stories to share the update with his nearly 14 million followers.
“I have bad news,” he said. “I just left the festival, they evacuate everyone, they evacuated me too. My set got canceled because it's supposed to rain a lot here in Chicago, with thunder. The city authorities will not let the event continue today. I'll keep you posted as soon as I hear more. I hope you understand that this is out of our hands, it is due to the weather. I hope I can give you a good show here in Chicago when possible.”
The many updates and delays throughout the day caused confusion, which led to complaints from festival-goers on social media, who wrote that everything had become a “nightmare”. Some asked for a refund, while others reiterated that this was for everyone's safety. “They can't control the weather,” one person pointed out. “It's not their fault. Stop whining.”
Check out the latest Sueños festival update below:
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/chicago-suenos-festival-canceled-evacuated-severe-weather-storm-1235693354/
