Mole de Mayo

Really disappointed this year. J and I attended last year’s festival and had a blast.
MUSIC: This time I made sure to time it so we got there at 2:00 PM on Sunday to see Las Guitarras de España. I was really looking forward to it because I love Spanish guitar music. Less than halfway through the set the power goes out and they have to play the rest acoustically. I felt really bad for them. About ten or fifteen of us stood right up by the stage to continue listening until the very end of their set, which they really appreciated.
CROWD: So here we are listening to the band play acoustically, which was difficult to say the least, and who decides to stands right behind me? TALKERS! You know the kind that decide to get right up close to the stage, and then start having a loud conversation instead of listening to the music? Now if the power hadn’t gone out it would have been annoying, but I could have lived with it. Needless to say I politely turned and asked that if they were going to talk to please back up so we could hear the music. They didn’t move, but stopped talking, only for one song, though, then started talking again. Knowing it wasn’t worth it to get into a fight I dropped it, but I was highly annoyed. This was a band I was looking forward to seeing after all!
FOOD: Eh! Not as good as last year. What happened to the goat in mole sauce? That was fantastic, but no one seemed to carry it this time. The pulled chicken torta we had was all right, but they skimped on the meat on a huge-​ass roll. The rice that accompanied it for $ 5 was okay. The churro for $ 2 was all right, but we skipped the ice cream for $ 2.50. We get those popsicles for a dollar less at our neighborhood grocery store, so we didn’t think it was worth it.
STUFF TO BUY: We were looking forward to a particular print maker having a booth, but he was absent this time, and nothing else caught our eye.
We didn’t stay long and skipped the rest of the entertainment. An overall disappointment this time, which is too bad because it’s one of the more unusual festivities taking place in Chicago during the spring and summer.

They closed my street and people parked on my driveway! The residents were not included in this ! Pilsen has been sold! I heard the food is over priced and bad! I am boycotting this event!

Had a great time. They had food venues and other merchandise you could purchase. Most venues had music playing which was cool to see people stop in front of and just start dancing… women, men, children of all ages. Live entertainment on each end of the festival, and in the middle they had a bull you could ride that was hilarious to see people try to stay on top of. They had a boxing ring also which I’m not sure how that was used earlier but just speaks to the amount of free entertainment that was going on. All of the food was reasonable prices. Beer and wine was also served throughout. I truly enjoyed myself and would come back.

Definitely not a place for toddlers.
Great ambience to reacquaint with lost friends!
A bit disappointed that the food vendors don’t focus mainly on the Mole concept. Arrived at 5 and a couple of vendors didn’t have or ran out of Mole.
Appreciate the event!

Where were all the hipsters from Pilsen? Maybe they were sleeping off their Cinco De Mayo hangovers.
Well they missed one of the absolute bestest food celebrations in Chicago. Unlike all the other watered down over hyped and over sponsored events around the city, this one is spot on. Only about fifteen or so vendors putting out amazing food. No bullshit here, no mushy boiled corn, no quick and easy festival food, how about plantains smothered in rich chile laden mole? Or perhaps you have never had «pipian» the seed and herb laden mole that will redefine Mexican flavors for you. Dark Mole Poblano was represented in two or three booths, but there was green, red, brown, and many indigenous names I can’t remember. Beer was cheep, people were friendly, and my children have finally fallen in love with the worlds single greatest food.

Holy mole! There were nine local Mexican restaurants gathered at 18^th & Paulina for a mole cook-​off. Awards went to the best judged mole and the top people’s choice mole. I got to try flavors of mole I never knew existed. There was the traditional poblano, ranchero, red, verde, tamarind, tofu, pink, and blanco. Oh, the blanco! Talk about mole heaven! The pink was good too, mixed with pulled pork and made into slider sized sandwiches. And then the tamarind mole duck tacos! Oh yes!
There was also luche libre wrestling and other entertainers throughout the day, as well as a small market for crafts and souvenirs.
If you like mole, you have to check out this awesome little street fest next year! Only $ 1 donation to enter.