Many Chicago neighborhoods have their own festivals. Typically, these all revolve around one central theme that ties it all together; e.g. The Taste of Greektown. In a neighborhood like Albany Park where residents hail from Latin and Central America, the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe (plus more) it can be fairly difficult to find one common element to build around. So, how did they go about solving this?
Albany Park World Fest.
It’s always beneficial to celebrate diversity, but this fest does it better than most by taking some of our favorite foods, customs, and music from a variety of cultures. Here’s how it’s done:
Entertainment
Salsa dancing? Yes, please. Heck, there’s even a Zumba class. Sign us up!
Saturday
Noon – Zumba exercise and dance class
1:15 p.m. – KRCC Youth Ensemble (from the Korean-American Resource & Cultural Center)
2:30 p.m. – Comparza la Explosiva de Morelos y Sus Chinelos Magicos (Mexican carnival music and dancers)
4:30 p.m. – Magic Carpet (East African and Arabic)
6:30 p.m. – Bossa Tres with Dil Costa Samba Dancers (Brazilian)
8:30 p.m. – Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquesta (Latin American cumbia)
Sunday
Noon – Mass (Misa), Albany Park’s New Life Community Church
2:00 p.m. – Nicolae Feraru & His Romanian Gypsy Band (Eastern Europe)
3:30 p.m. – Ensemble Surabhi (Indo-Flamenco-Arabic grooves)
5:30 p.m. – Sones de Mexico Ensemble (traditional Mexican folk music))
7:30 p.m. – Funkadesi (world music)
Food
If you don’t like one of these options, we may have to question your humanity.
- 2 Asian Brothers (Vietnamese)
- La Cebollita (Mexican)
- The Local Pizzeria (Italian)
- Mrs. Murphy & Sons (American-Irish)
- Ruk Sushi & Thai (Sushi/Thai)
Charity
Proceeds benefit the Albany Park Neighbors, a community group that focuses on the immediate neighborhood of Albany Park (as you may have guessed). You can find more info on the organization at albanyparkneighbors.wordpress.com.
Albany Park World Fest takes place on Saturday (noon to 10pm) & Sunday (noon to 9pm) on August 22-23 (today) at Lawrence & Kimball. You can find more info here.
Photo Credit: Gelolaw.com