A new Latin-inspired food and music festival is coming to Naperville this summer.
Tacoville will take over Naper Settlement from June 5 to 7, bringing mariachi, Latin pop, margaritas and, of course, tacos to the 13-acre history museum campus.
The event is organized by Green Curtain Events, which runs some of the largest street gatherings in Chicago, including the Tacos y Tamales Festival in the Pilsen neighborhood.
“I moved here four years ago, and I have children in the school system,” said Nick Pobutsky, director at Green Curtain Events. “I’ve just been extremely happy with the new place I get to call home so I’ve always wanted to bring one of our concepts this way.”
Many families have expressed an interest to him in seeing “something new or fresh in Naperville,” Pobutsky said. He also noted that many patrons who attend Tacos y Tamales often travel from the suburbs to the street festival. Instead of creating another Latin-themed event in Chicago, he felt it made more sense to try to expand to the west suburbs.
“Now we’re able to bring something here that’s closer to them, and it’s not going to be a carbon copy,” he said. “Tacos y Tamales takes place in the street, and it’s about a mile long. This is going to be more up and down the rolling grass plains and concrete walkways of the Settlement.”
Over the course of the weekend, he hopes to draw around 12,000 attendees from Naperville and surrounding suburbs, he said.
“We have learned that tacos are kind of the world’s universal love language, and everyone loves feeling like they’re on vacation,” Pobutsky said. “Everyone loves a good cold beer in the summer, everyone loves a good margarita, so we just thought there would be a wonderful concept to bring.”
The hope is for Tacoville to become a recurring event in Naperville — and possibly a springboard for other festivals, such as a west suburban version of their WingOut Chicago event or their Great American Lobster Fest held at Navy Pier, he said.
For the inaugural Tacoville, attendees can look forward to more than 20 food vendors and food trucks serving a wide variety of tacos and other treats, including churros, elotes, quesadillas and loaded nachos. Outdoor bars will be stocked with drinks like beer, margaritas, micheladas and seltzers.
Guests who have previously attended Tacos y Tamales may even recognize some of the food vendors at Tacoville.
“We also have El Campeón, which is like pineapple piña coladas and they have all these different varieties of mango coladas and things like that,” Pobutsky said. “And my favorite tamale vendor that’s been with us since the very first year is Yvolina’s Tamales, and she’s located in Pilsen, Chicago.”
As for entertainment, there will be two stages for musical performances throughout the weekend: one with a DJ and another for live music. Guests will hear everything from tributes to musicians like Carlos Santana and Selena to hit music from Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Ricky Martin and more.
For families, Naper Settlement’s playground and splash pad will be open for the weekend in addition to face painting and various rides for children. Guests also support local artisans who will be selling clothing, jewelry and and other items at art stalls.
It’s a weekend that feels like “two to three events going on at the same time,” with a little something for everybody, Pobutsky said.
“In my years of experience producing a similar event in Chicago, the blend of people is amazing at something like this,” he said. “So we’re expecting a great turnout of diversity. We want to celebrate diversity, and again, between the margaritas, the micheladas, the piña coladas, the cerveza, the taco, the food items and the music, we’re trying to bring a Jalisco or vacation vibe to Naperville.”
Tacoville hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 5; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 6, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, June 7. Tickets are $10 per day or $20 for a weekend pass and can be purchased at tacovillefest.com/tickets. Children under 10 are free.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
