The world will come together from September 7 to 23 at 17 venues across the city for the 20th Annual World Music Festival Chicago. Celebrating diverse music from across the globe, this FREE festival is produced by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. The full schedule can be found at worldmusicfestivalchicago.org
Opening the festival on Friday, September 7, is the all-night Ragamala: A Celebration of Indian Classical Music starting at 6 p.m. and continuing until the following morning at 8 a.m. A tradition in India, the all-night classical concerts are rarely held publicly in the United States. Visitors have the rare opportunity to hear the ragas (traditional scales or modes) as they were meant to be played during the early morning and late night hours, under the Tiffany stained glass dome of Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.). Presented in collaboration with Indian Classical Music Society of Chicago and People of Rhythm, the concert features a variety of musical groups and artists including: Anindo Chatterjee, Anubrata Chatterjee, Sara Ranganathan, Anandi Bhattacharya with Debashish Bhattacharya and Subhasis Bhattacharya, Debashish Bhattacharya with Swapan Chaudhuri and many more.
A special celebration for of the El Grito will take place in Millennium Park on Saturday, September 15 beginning at 3 p.m. Commemorating Mexico’s Independence Day, the concert presents four bands, all from Mexico but each with a very different sound. Headliner Mariachi Herencia de México is a Latin GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble of students from Chicago. Bringing a contemporary spin to traditional music, Chéjere combines “mexican son” with the rhythms and sounds of music genres from around the world. Performances also include Latin rock and singer-songwriter Ceci Bastida and Mexican-Canadian, musician and singer Quique Escamilla who won the Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015 with his first full-length and self-produced album, 500 Years of Night.
On Sunday, September 16 in commemoration of the International Peace Day, the Global Peace Picnic at the Humboldt Park Boathouse (1301 N. Sacramento Ave.) from 2 to 6 p.m. is a day of family-friendly activities and performances by the miramba- group Rio Mira founded by artists from Ecuador and Colombia; GRAMMY®-nominated Innov Gnawaperforming Morocco’s traditional Gnawa music; and Combo Chimbita, a group of first-generation New York musicians performing innovative music based on their Colombian heritage.
The festival finale on Sunday, September 23 where World Music Festival meets the World Dumpling Fest at Navy Pier to deliver performances by a number of international bands starting at 1 until 7:30 p.m. as part of a special collaboration with Navy Pier, Chicago Cultural Alliance and DCASE. Band Highlights include Jupiter and Okwess led by Jupiter Bokondji, playing the Congolese rhythms, funk and rock referred to as “Bofenia Rock” with lyrics promoting positive social messages; Delgres from Guadeloupe, combining their native Caribbean rhythms with the delta blues for a deep roots sound of their own; and the Zhou Family Band from China, playing traditional wind and percussion music. The World Dumpling Festival at Polk Bros Park will feature dumplings of the world from 10 neighborhood ethnic restaurants, cultural artists and family activities. This event is free to the public, for complete details visit ChicagoCulturalAlliance.org/worlddumplingfest.
World Music Festival is sponsored by Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Tribune, and Millennium Garages. Grant support for World Music Festival provided by the Chicago Park District, Irish American Heritage Center, National Museum of Mexican Art, and Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
In line with the City of Chicago’s One Chicago campaign, the World Music Festival reaffirms that Chicago welcomes everyone. The One Chicago campaign is the visual representation of the City’s value promise that everyone is welcome here no matter their race, religion, color or background. Through its imagery and personal stories, the campaign aims to take the negative rhetoric out of the current immigration story and remind Chicagoans that the immigrant story is everyone’s story. And it reinforces that Chicago has been and will continue to be a city that embraces diversity – no matter the political climate. Visit onechi.org for more information.
The full schedule with locations and times of each performance is included below. For more information and festival updates, visit worldmusicfestivalchicago.org and follow the festival on Facebook and on Twitter @WMFChicago #WorldMusicFestChicago #ChicagoisOne.
20th Annual World Music Festival Chicago Schedule
(***NOTE – unless otherwise noted, all lineups are listed with the headliner first followed by the opening performers)
Friday, September 7
Ragamala: A Celebration of Indian Classical Music
Chicago Cultural Center, Preston Bradley Hall
78 E. Washington St.
6 p.m.-8 a.m.
In collaboration with Indian Classical Music Society of Chicago and People of Rhythm
6–7:15 p.m. CARNATIC
Sara Ranganathan
7:45–9 p.m. HINDUSTANI
Anandi Bhattacharya with Debashish Bhattacharya + Subhasis Bhattacharya
9:30–10:45 p.m. CARNATIC
TBD
11:15 p.m.–12:30 a.m. HINDUSTANI
Abhisek Lahiri, Dilshad Khan + Subrata Bhattacharya
1–2:30 a.m. FUSION
Beats + Pieces – Anindo Chatterjee + Anubrata Chatterjee
3–4:30 a.m. HINDUSTANI
Debashish Bhattacharya with Swapan Chaudhuri
4:45–6 a.m. CARNATIC
TBD
6:15–8:00 a.m. HINDUSTANI
Anupama Bhagwat & Nitin Mitta
Saturday, September 8
Juana Molina (Argentina)
Andreas Kapsalis (Chicago, IL)
The Promontory
5311 S. Lake Park Ave. W.
7 p.m.
21+
Sunday, September 9
National Arab Orchestra (Detroit, MI)
University of Chicago
Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
915 E. 60th St.
3 p.m.
All Ages
Wednesday, September 12
Sona Jobarteh (United Kingdom | Gambia)
Actores Alidos (Italy)
Sleeping Village
3734 W. Belmont Ave.
7 p.m.
All Ages
Thursday, September 13
Actores Alidos (Italy)
Chicago City Market at Daley Plaza
50 W. Washington St.
Noon
All Ages
Sona Jobarteh (United Kingdom | Gambia)
Chinese Mongolia Band (China)
Chicago Cultural Center, Preston Bradley Hall
78 E. Washington St.
6 p.m.
All Ages
Altan (Ireland)
Irish American Heritage Center
4626 N. Knox Ave.
7 p.m.
All Ages
Friday, September 14
Chinese Mongolia Band (China)
Ping Tom Memorial Park
300 W. 19th St.
5 p.m.
All Ages
Chéjere (Mexico)
National Museum of Mexican Art
1852 W. 19th St.
3 p.m.: Workshop
7 p.m.: Performance
All Ages
Saturday, September 15
EL GRITO
Mariachi Herencia De México (Chicago, IL)
Chéjere (Mexico)
Ceci Bastida (Tijuana Mexico | Los Angeles, CA)
Quique Escamilla (Toronto, Canada)
Millennium Park, Jay Pritzker Pavilion
201 E. Randolph St.
3 p.m.
All Ages
Orquesta Akokán (Cuba)
Rio Mira (Ecuador | Colombia)
Martyrs’
3855 N. Lincoln Ave.
9 p.m.
21+
Sunday, September 16
Global Peace Picnic
In commemoration of the International Day of Peace
Rio Mira (Ecuador | Colombia)
Innov Gnawa (Morocco)
Combo Chimbita (New York, NY)
Humboldt Park Boathouse
1301 N. Sacramento Ave.
2–6 p.m.
All Ages
Wednesday, September 19
Spiro (United Kingdom)
Old Town School of Folk Music,The Gary and Laura Maurer Hall
4544 N. Lincoln Ave.
8:30 p.m.
All Ages
Thursday, September 20
Spiro (United Kingdom)
Chicago Cultural Center, Preston Bradley Hall
78 E. Washington St.
6 p.m. show
ALL AGES
La Dame Blanche (Cuba)
Cheick Hamala Diabate (Mali | Washington, D.C.)
Martyrs’
3855 N. Lincoln Ave.
8 p.m.
21+
Friday, September 21
Lo Còr De La Plana (France)
Emilia Amper (Sweden)
The Promontory
5311 S. Lake Park Ave. W.
7 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
All Ages
La Dame Blanche (Cuba)
H.A.T. (Boston, MA | Morocco)
Pachanga DJs (Chicago, IL)
Chop Shop & 1st Ward Events
2033 W. North Ave.
9 p.m.
21+
Saturday, September 22
Saturday, September 22
Beatdown Soundsystem (Chicago, IL)
Featuring Kinky P, Chuck Dubshine and Friends
Loyola Park
1–6 p.m.
All Ages
Lo Còr De La Plana (France)
Zhou Family Band (China)
DePaul University
Holtschneider Performance Center, Mary Patricia Gannon Concert Hall
2330 N. Halsted St.
7 p.m.
All Ages
Jupiter & Okwess (Congo)
Delgres (Guadeloupe)
Quantic (United Kingdom | New York, NY)
Concord Music Hall
2047 N. Milwaukee Ave.
9 p.m.
21+
Sunday, September 23
World Music Festival meets the World Dumpling Fest
In Collaboration with Navy Pier, Chicago Cultural Alliance and DCASE
Jupiter & Okwess (Congo)
Delgres (Guadeloupe)
Zhou Family Band (China)
East Meets Middle East (Chicago, IL | India)
Navy Pier
600 E. Grand Ave.
1 p.m.–6 p.m.
All Ages
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Press Release provided by DCASE