The 9th annual Mole de Mayo Festival will take place this weekend right in the heart of Chicago’s historic Pilsen neighborhood.
The festival celebrates traditional Mexican cuisine by doing a cook-off of a trademark sauce: mole. Mole (pronounced moe-le) is elaborated with chili peppers, spices, nuts, chocolate and various seasonings, depending on the region of Mexico. Even though there are variations to prepping the sauce, the classic version is a dark red or brown sauce that is typically served over meat or enchiladas.
“Pilsen has been a predominantly Mexican community for the past 50 years, and mole is a staple of the Mexican culture. So we figured that instead of calling it a Mexican Festival, Mole de Mayo includes Mexican heritage in the name,” said Alex Esparza, the Executive Director for the Eighteenth Street Development Corporation (ESDC), the not-for-profit organization in charge of putting together the event.
Visitors will be able to taste different varieties of the Mexican staple, as local chefs present their own version in mole booths all around the outdoor venue. Local chefs and restaurants will be competing to obtain the Mole de Mayo’s Best Mole Award or the People’s Choice Award. Last year’s Best Mole Award went to Frida Room and Yvolina’s Tamales took home the People’s Choice Award.
The prize - a clay pot that is painted and crafted by Victor Montañez, a local artist from Pilsen - is a symbol of gastronomical excellence that attracts hungry foodies. Previous winning restaurants display an olla (pot) in their establishments around the neighborhood.
Due to the success of this event throughout the years, the festival has started to incorporate more elements for entertainment, including two stages of live music entertainment, visual artists, traditional Aztec dance performances and even lucha libre (wrestling) matches, according to the organizers.
“We started as a block party with two vendors selling comida casera (homemade food). It wasn’t a restaurant, laws were less strict back then. If someone wanted to cook they could literally come out and cook," said Ezparza. "When we first started, 500 people assisted the event, and at that point that was a success because we were just going for the neighbors to do a small celebration of Cinco de Mayo," he added.
The event has had to relocate throughout the years in order to accommodate massive groups of visitors. As of last year, Mole de Mayo hit a little over 100,000 people. The festival has seen a massive growth, not only in attendance but also in vendors. Over 15 chefs competed for the first prize last year. Initially, attendees were just interested in getting a taste of the traditional recipes of local Pilsen chefs, but now many visitors are also drawn by the activity and entertainment packed festival, added Esparza.
This year, the Mole de Mayo lineup includes the Chicago Mariachi Project, Guillermo Velázquez y Los Leones de la Sierra de Xichú and Nahui Ollin Huehuecoyotl.
The traditional ethnic group Nahui Ollin Huehuecoyotl, an Aztec dance group has been invited to perform in the festival for the second time.
“We’re an ethnic dance group of a tradition in Mexico that has been kept for hundreds of years. It’s a tribute to our very own existence by mimicking the natural movements of the planet,” said Ana Patino, a member of the group.
“We participate in events like these so we can show our community their own heritage, show our children where they come from. Being away from our country doesn’t allow us to show our tradition as much as we want to," added Patino.
“We’re grateful and honored to share our culture with anybody that is interested in learning about it.”
The festival will take place from Friday, May 25 through Sunday, May 27 on 18th Street and Ashland Ave from 11am-5pm. For more information visit: https://www.starevents.com/event/mole-de-mayo/.
Ita Tsai is a freelance writer at HOY Chicago. She studies Journalism and Media Communications at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, Spain.
itatsait@gmail.com
