Michelada Fest 2025, scheduled to kick off this summer in Chicago, announced it is canceling the music festival — known for its Latin music, culture, and abundance of micheladas — due to “uncertainty” around the “shifting political climate.”
“Because of the uncertainty around artist visas and the shifting political climate, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel Michelada Fest 2025,” the music festival team announced in a Tuesday Instagram post.
The Michelada Fest organizers went on to suggest that they are canceling the music festival because they no longer believe they can give concertgoers “the experience [they] deserve.”
Notably, this announcement arrived on the heels of the members of one of the bands scheduled to perform having their U.S. visas revoked after praising a cartel leader.
“This was not an easy decision for us to make,” the statement read. “Your trust, time, and hard-earned dollars mean everything to us, and we believe in giving you the experience you deserve.”
The music festival team added that everyone who purchased tickets “will receive full refunds back to their original form of payment.”
“For seven years, we’ve poured [our hearts] into this festival,” they said. “From a street fest in Pilsen to a national stage, you helped us grow into something bigger than we ever imagined.”
“Michelada Fest will always be a safe place where our [community] comes together, united by pride and love of our culture and music,” the statement continued, adding, “That won’t ever change.”
The lineup for Chicago’s Michelada Fest 2025 was set to include the band Los Alegres del Barranco, whose members reportedly had their U.S. visas revoked after singing to Mexican drug lord “El Mencho” during a recent performance in Zapopan, Mexico.
While it remains unclear whether Michelada Fest will return to the United States in 2026, the festival’s organizers closed their statement with an optimistic vibe, writing, “We’ll keep showing up, giving back, and uplifting our people in every way we can. [See you soon]!”
“We’re already dreaming up what’s next,” they concluded.
Since taking office earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration has — among other national security-enhancing efforts — established measures to better vetting and screening processes for visa applicants, which may be the cause for the drug lord-loving musicians’ denied visas.
In November 2024, Trump won the presidential election against former Vice President Kamala Harris in a landslide victory that included not securing the Electoral College, but the popular vote and every swing state in the nation as well — a clear indication of a shifting political climate in the U.S., and a mandate from American voters urging Trump to enact his agenda.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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