DOWNTOWN — Organizers of the Sueños Music Festival say the event generated $120.9 million in economic activity in Chicago in its first year, more than the NASCAR Fourth of July weekend street race is expected to rake in.
Festival organizers C3 hired Texas-based Angelou Economics to conduct an economic impact report for the event, which was done using survey data from attendees and “assumptions estimating the amount of money spent by attendants on various categories of expenditures,” according to the report released Tuesday.
The 2022 festival generated $1.1 million in amusement tax revenue for the city, $32 million for the food and beverage industry, $12.4 million for hotels and $6.3 million in entertainment, according to the report.
The festival also generated $15.7 million in tax revenue for the county, state and federal government combined.
Sueños’ economic impact surpasses that of NASCAR’s which is predicted to be $113 million impact to the city, according to a report from the Sun-Times. Based on these numbers, Sueños takes second place to Lollapalooza which generated $335.4 million last year in direct and indirect economic revenue in Chicago.
Sueños, which is Spanish for dreams, debuted in Grant Park in 2022, attracting 80,000 attendees from across the country, according to a news release. The festival is a celebration of Reggaeton music and is considered one of the nation’s largest Latin music festivals.
The two-day festival will return to Grant Park Memorial Day weekend, May 27-28, in Grant Park. Headliners include Wisin Y Yandel, Grupo Firme, Feid and Nicky Jam.
Tickets are currently on sale and start at $179 for one-day admission.
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