A sunny Chicago. Glittery outfits. Downtown with Latinos to your left and right. A beautiful skyline surrounds you as you listen to everything from old Quinceañeara hits to new Bad Bunny remixes. It’s a magical sight that only comes around once a year for two days. Thankfully, it’s almost time for Sueños.
Sueños recently announced that its artist lineup will be released on Feb. 10, three months before it hits Grant Park on May 23 and 24. As a past attendee, I am excited to see what the production will look like this time around.
In 2022, Baja Fest co-founders Aaron Ampudia and Chris Den Uijl started Sueños. This now annual festival brings Reggaeton and Latin artists from around the world to Chicago every spring. The event highlights local Latin business, restaurants,and mega-stars like past headliners, Shakira and Peso Pluma.
There’s an unavoidable wave of excitement that comes with awaiting Sueños weekend. I look forward to it every year — even when I don’t attend. Especially in our current political climate, such a massive celebration of Latino culture in one of the country’s major cities is incredibly powerful. As a native Chicagoan, I know Latinos are throughout the city. But few experiences compare to the connection that comes with exiting the park with thousands of other fans who look like you and are proud to enjoy the many facets of the culture.
With 43.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Fuerza Regida is the only confirmed act for Sueños 2026. The multi-platinum, chart-topping modern Mexican band is headlining the festival on Sunday. We are at the height of anticipation right now, so here are my top predictions for who’s likely to join them.
Headliner Predictions
Karol G
Karol G is my top contender for the second headliner. Given her recent break up with Grammy nominated Colombian singer, Feid, I think this is the perfect time for her to take that stage. Of course, artists’ contracts are negotiated for long periods of time, so this decision would probably not be connected to her recent relationship change. But as a Karol G fan, her headlining this year would be another level of iconic — and “bichota.”
Feid hit Grant Park for Sueños’ second year. That very same year, Karol G released her record-breaking album, Mañana Sera Bonito. With this release, she became the first female artist to reach #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart with an all-Spanish album. The accompanying tour became the highest-grossing tour by a female Latin artist in history. It was a phenomenal year for her, so year three, and even last year, I kept hoping Karol G would follow Feid’s performance and sing at Sueños.
But she never came to Chicago. Instead, in 2023, she closed Lollapalooza on Thursday. She performed at Coachella in 2022 and later this year is set to headline the festival for the first time. She seems to be at every music festival except Sueños.
This past year, she released Tropicoqueta, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Album. Although unlike her previous album, Tropicoqueta, release was not followed by an extensive tour. She is undoubtedly a global superstar, but the timing this year makes it more plausible for her to headline.
Plan B
Sueños has a tradition of bringing back legacy artists. Singers like Don Omar, Nicky Jam and Wisin y Yandel have all headlined in previous years. After taking breaks from touring, they delivered stellar performances that evoked nostalgic senses of reggaeton from 2010s when the genre was more rap and urban beats. If we are talking old-school reggaeton, Plan B has to be part of the conversation.
Their album House of Pleasure from 2010 includes some of their greatest hits. Their music video from 2010 for “Es un Secreto” has 671 million views on YouTube. In 2014, their album Love & Sex peaked at #2 in Billboard’s top Latin hits. The duo was made up of cousins Chencho Corleone and Maldy, until they separated in 2018 to pursue independent music careers. Chencho went on to perform for Sueños five years later in 2023. But I think Sueños could get them to pull off a similar reunion to Wisin y Yandel’s. As an older-artist choice, Plan B is a prediction I’m truly crossing my fingers for. The festival booked half of this duo with Chencho, so together again, they could headline.
Anuel AA
Anuel is my final “strong” guess for the second headliner — though, this is more of a personal wish. “Amanece,” “Bebé” and “Hasta Que Dios Diga,” are three of his songs I always shuffle into my playlists. When I want to evoke the happy, summer vibes I associate with reggaeton, I listen to Anuel.
He hasn’t been on tour in the past year. His last album, LLNM2 was released in 2022. He’s had more recent features with fast-growing artists like Omar Courtz, but he’s been a bit dormant lately.
Once again, however, Sueños also has a history of bringing veteran Latino artists back into the spotlight. Given his highly publicized relationship with Karol G, it would be messy — but undeniably intriguing to have him headline the festival before she does. Before Karol G started dating Feid, she was engaged to Anuel. They broke up in 2021 after being together for two years. Longtime fans know Anuel wrote “23 Preguntas” about her, and the music they released during and after their relationship have kept many of us deeply invested. Following Anuel and Karol G’s split, she released Mañana Sera Bonito which echoes the message of tomorrow being a better day.
As a fan of all three: Karol G, Anuel and Feid, I think we deserve to see all three of them eventually perform at Sueños. They are my holy Reggaeton trinity. Since Anuel has not been touring or releasing solo songs recently, he could very realistically join this year’s lineup.
Lineup Predictions
Netón Vega
Netón Vega feels like a safe prediction. He released an album in 2025, toured the US this past year and has performed at Sueños before. He was a part of the festival’s first lineup, back when the festival was much smaller. Last year, Netón Vega was supposed to be a special performer for Michelada Fest (another, smaller, Latin music festival in Chicago) before it was canceled amid political changes affecting the Latino community. So, I think he may be performing at Sueños this year especially as an artist who aligns with Fuerza Regida’s fanbase who like their mix of corridos and modern rap.
Danny Ocean
Danny Ocean was also set to perform at Michelada Fest last year before it was canceled, so I think he too has been waiting to play a Chicago festival now.
Seeing Danny Ocean perform on the Sueños lineup this year would be a nice surprise. His hit “Me Rehuso,” originally released in 2016, has over 2 billion views on YouTube — and that’s just the audio, not even a music video. Ocean also released Babylon Club and toured the US last year, being a force to be reckoned with. His music goes viral despite not being a name you hear as often as someone like Bad Bunny.
Alleh and Yorghaki
Alleh and Yorghaki are a great possibility. The Venezuelan duo entered many Latinos’ playlists with their hit, “Capaz.” I remember first falling in love with the song while my brothers and I were on spring break in Barcelona — it was everywhere.
The duo would be a fun addition to a lineup that often leans heavily toward mainstream reggaeton. While they are not massive yet, they might draw a large crowd off their biggest hits, like the DJ pop group 3BallMTY did last year. While some considered 3BallMTY a one-hit wonder with “Intentalo,” their music recently has had a resurgence. Alleh and Yorghaki, I think, may similarly surprise us with fan-interest.
Conclusion
Above all, it’s important to remember that Sueños translates to dreams for a reason. The festival is meant to be a joyful, liberating space for Latinos to come together from around the world and enjoy music. With the lineup dropping in a few days, the only thing left for us to do is wait and have faith Sueños will deliver yet another weekend full of unforgettable memories for all of us Latin music lovers.
