In April, Pilgrim Congregational Church of Oak Park partnered with the Oak Park Area Arts Council to begin planning for a multicultural arts festival to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month in October.
The event was slated to feature a variety of Hispanic artists, musicians and dancers and raise money for the arts council’s Off the Wall fund, designed to support young adult artists of color impacted by reduced arts funding.
This week, the event was cancelled due to increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Oak Park.
According to Rev. David Loofbourrow, who helped plan the festival and is part of Pilgrim’s Anti-Racism Steering Committee, the planning team began to hear from the scheduled artists that they had concerns about congregating in one place, “especially a well-advertised Hispanic event,” he said.
“We did not want to be creating a space that was a target for the very people that we were trying to celebrate,” Loofbourrow said.
Emad Mahou, chair of the arts council board, said, “The recent presence of ICE in our community is deeply concerning. While we were very much looking forward to presenting this special event, the comfort and safety of our participating artists and guests must come first. After thoughtful discussions, both OPAAC and Pilgrim have agreed that it is best to postpone the event at this time.”
This decision comes amid heightened federal immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago, after the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz to target immigrants in Chicago and Illinois Sept. 8.
The cancellation is not the only one of its kind in Oak Park.
The village government announced in an email Sept. 22 that it would be cancelling the annual ¡Viva! Festival due to “ongoing presence of federal immigration agents throughout the region.”
In light of these developments, Rev. Colin Knapp, senior pastor at Pilgrim and a member of its anti-racism steering committee, said he hopes the decision to cancel the Pilgrim and arts council festival makes clear where Pilgrim stands in the face of community threats.
“I would want the larger community to know that there are lots of churches that stand opposed to this administration and are actively resisting and creating new ways to be together and cultivate hope,” Knapp said. “We are not going to renege on our values, which this administration stands directly opposed to, and we believe God stands directly opposed to.”
The arts council’s Mahou said, “Oak Park remains steadfast in its commitment to being a safe, welcoming, and inclusive place for all. While difficult decisions sometimes have to be made in the interest of safety, our dedication to celebrating the rich cultural diversity of our community has not wavered. This event may not move forward as planned, but our work to uplift voices, honor traditions, and build understanding continues. We want our community to know that these values are not negotiable — they define who we are.”
Pilgrim’s Loofbourrow said that although the event has not yet occurred that the overwhelmingly positive responses he received when reaching out to local sponsors in preparation for the festival was success enough for him.
“I would like people to reach out into the community and stretch a little bit and find yourself interacting with folks that are different than you, and you’ll find wonderful, loving, exciting, positive people,” Loofbourrow said. “In that regard, I feel like the event was a success, even though we haven’t had it yet.”
Representatives from Pilgrim Church including Loofbourrow, Knapp and their fellow committee member Karin Grimes said the decision should be considered a postponement, not a cancellation. They hope to hold the festival as soon as next spring.
“We’re trying to provide hope to the community in a time when there’s a lot of fear and despair, and we continue to believe that the way things are is not the way things have to be,” Knapp said.
Mahou of the arts council said, “The threats are not just about this one event — they strike at the heart of what Oak Park stands for as a community. Oak Park has always prided itself on being welcoming, inclusive, and committed to celebrating the diversity that makes us stronger. When threats emerge, they are meant to intimidate and divide. Our responsibility as a village is to respond by reaffirming our values: protecting the safety of our residents and guests, standing in solidarity with those targeted, and ensuring that fear does not dictate who we are or how we come together.”
