Join the largest Latino Festival in DuPage county!
Combining large-scale art, Rock en Español, Aztecan dancers & beloved Mexican Food, the Monarch Butterfly Festival celebrates the Mexican community with favorite bands, stands and artistry.
The Monarch Butterfly Festival offers a jubilant Latino festival in the western suburbs. Experience live, large-scale mural painting by renowned Chicago artists, enjoy live music, watch Aztec dancers and savor beloved Mexican cuisine at this family-friendly celebration of culture and community. With the pillars of Community + Fiesta + Raza (The Mexican People), the Monarch Festival is the largest celebration of local Mexican and Latino musicians, culture and local vendors in DuPage County. Much like the monarch, the Mexican community has also travelled - and where it goes, like here in DuPage, the whole community is enriched and pollinated. This year’s subtheme is Cultural Resistance: that in difficult times, culture is our bond and identity; it ties us to the past while soulfully facing the future. Like the arrival of the monarch to Glendale Heights each year - the festival imagines the Monarch opening its wings to showcase the best of its children: artists, musicians, dancers, chefs, artisans and small businesses. Displaying that through passion, authenticity and love, we are recreating the cultural landscape of suburban DuPage County, much as the Monarch pollinates and enriches.
Monarch Butterfly Festival 2026 seeks to honor Mother Nature and the monarch butterfly. Participants are given milkweed and other prairie plants to disseminate, while Monarch Butterflies are released from on stage each year by local ecologist friends.