Slow and Low: Chicago Lowrider Festival returns next weekend.
After the epidemic, the festival returns to Navy Pier for the first time indoors.
“The objective is basically to create an alternate platform for a broader community of people to enjoy and better understand the subtleties and features of the lowrider culture and community,” festival co-founder Lauren Pacheco said.
In September 2018, Pilsen hosted the last Chicago Lowrider Festival, which featured 250 modified automobiles and dozens of bikes and motorcycles. This year’s indoor event required significant adjustments and redesigning.
“It was always something of a parade,” festival co-founder Peter Kepha said. I call the cars peacocks prancing down the catwalk. This is unusual since our automobiles will be stationary, which is wonderful because we can show off more.”
Pacheco and Kepha, third-generation Mexican Americans, have been working together for 15 years.
Pacheco added, “This is simply a very great collaboration moment for Peter and I, and as Chicagoans born and bred on the South Side of Chicago, it’s a historic moment for not only us and our project, but for the lowrider community.
The festival will emphasize lowriding’s Mexican American and Chicano roots in Chicago and the Midwest. 40 Midwest lowrider clubs are anticipated.
“It’s truly about the community and the families that are behind it,” Kepha said.
Navy Pier hosts the festival Saturday, Oct. 15. http://www.chicagolowriderfestival.com/ has event details.
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