Chicago’s Sueños Festival Evacuated, Canceled Due to Severe Weather

Performances were suspended at Sueños Festival and people were evacuated due to rain and thunderstorms, just minutes after Maluma had taken the stage in Chicago’s Grant Park on Sunday (May 26).

At around 8 p.m. local time, festival organizers sent an email, received by Billboard, with the latest update, which was also shared on social media. “Weather evacuation, please calmly head to the nearest exit,” they wrote on Instagram. “Unfortunately, event is over due to weather. Gates will not reopen.”

The abrupt ending to the festival comes hours after day two of the event had been delayed due to severe weather alerts. The first update came in around 8 a.m., with the announcement that the festival would be delayed. Five hours later, organizers said doors would open at 4 p.m. (instead of noon), and revealed a shuffled and shorter lineup. Just minutes before doors opened, they re-added artists that had been previously removed like Bad Gyal and Gabito Ballesteros.

Maluma took to social media to tell his fans he was indebted with them. “The short time the weather allowed us to share together was the most chimba (best),” he wrote. “Just when the best part was about to begin, the storm scared us away. I love you.”

Peso Pluma was set to close on Sunday. Just minutes after the festival was officially canceled, 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 are evacuating everyone, they evacuated me too. My set was canceled because it’s supposed to rain heavily here in Chicago, with thunder. City officials won’t let the event go on today. I’ll keep you updated once I hear more. I hope you understand this is out of our hands, it’s because of the weather. I hope I can give you a good show here in Chicago when it’s possible.”

The many updates and delays throughout the day caused confusion, which led to complaints by festival-goers on social media, who wrote that it had all became 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. “This isn’t their fault. Stop whining.”

See Sueños Festival’s latest update below: