NYC’s Migo Fest Canceled, Citing ‘Political Climate’: ‘As Mexicans Do, We Never Gave Up Trying’

Migo Fest, positioned arsenic a trailblazing lawsuit celebrating the caller question of música Mexicana, has been canceled, organizers announced Friday (Oct. 10). The determination comes conscionable 1 time earlier the festival was scheduled to instrumentality spot connected Saturday.

In a connection shared with Billboard Español, organizers said they were forced to cancel aft “receiving a telephone [on Wednesday night] that made it intolerable for the festival to determination guardant without each of our performers.” According to the festival’s representatives, the cancellation was owed to the existent “political climate, creator visas that were denied and due to the fact that 1 large creator had to driblet out.”

The cancelation coincides with ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids crossed the nation, which person heightened fears wrong Latin communities, as good arsenic visa issues for planetary artists and concerns astir imaginable threats to audiences from ICE enforcement.

Billed arsenic the first euphony festival of its kind successful the New York Tri-State area, Migo Fest aimed to spotlight the emergence of Mexican euphony portion celebrating the taste contributions of New York’s Mexican and Puebla York — the colonisation of Puebla origin, which has a beardown beingness successful the metropolis — communities. However, a bid of challenges successful caller weeks culminated successful the abrupt cancellation.

Yet the festival had already faced setbacks, including changing the venue from Jones Beach Theater to the Coney Island Amphitheater connected Oct. 2, with organizers citing accessibility concerns. Additionally, headliners Netón Vega and Alemán were removed from the lineup, which was subsequently reduced from 17 acts to 10.

Though New York’s Mexican assemblage has often been overlooked successful the larger Latin euphony country dominated by Caribbean-rooted styles, Migo Fest aimed to springiness Mexicans visibility and observe their contributions to the city. It did truthful by including emerging NYC-rooted, Mexican-American talent, similar The Bronx’s Selines, Brooklyn’s SpliffHappy, and Queens’ Santy y Su Estilo Único.

The connection besides added that “this is not the extremity of Migo Fest, it is conscionable a pause.”

Furthermore, organizers committedness to instrumentality “stronger” successful the aboriginal “for our people, our artists, and our community,” arsenic per the statement. Refunds volition statesman processing adjacent week, they confirmed.

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