RUido Fest

If it wasn’t for the Curative truck parked right in front of the festival’s entrance administering free COVID-19 tests, the healthcare workers inoculating festival-goers who hadn’t been fully vaccinated and some attendees wearing face masks, Ruido Fest 2021 seemed like any other year offering a space for Chicago’s Latin community to enjoy music by Latinos for Latinos. “It’s important to have festivals like Ruido because we could just be ourselves and that’s okay,” explained Colombian artist Lido Pimienta during a press conference after her 45-minute set. “There’s no pressure of now I have to do a dance song or one with a reggaeton beat because otherwise it’s not going to be popular or even become this entertaining monkey for...