A month of bilingual programming and community events links Latin American culture with the Arboretum’s conservation and urban tree work.
The Morton Arboretum will mark Hispanic Heritage Month with cultural programmes, family activities, Spanish-language experiences and community-led installations from September 15 to October 15. The programme’s centrepiece is Celebración de los Árboles, a two-day festival presented with the DuPage Hispanic Alliance on September 26 and 27. The initiative places cultural participation alongside the Arboretum’s work connecting people with trees, nature and conservation in Latin America.
Celebración de los Árboles will bring music, dance, food, storytelling and cultural performances to the Arboretum, alongside Lucha Libre matches, mariachi, salsa music and dance lessons. The programme also includes artisan vendors, food trucks, Spanish-language tram rides and an Artists’ Gallery featuring work by Latino artists. The festival is included with Arboretum admission, extending the institution’s regular visitor experience into a broader community gathering.
The month also features Herbarium tours focused on how the Arboretum collects and preserves Mexican oak species and other plant specimens. Those tours will highlight research by Arboretum scientists and collaborators in Mexico on oak diversity in Mexico and Central America. Spanish-language and bilingual activities include Tranvía en Español tours through the Arboretum’s woodlands, wetlands and prairies, a nature hike, forest therapy walks led by Spanish-speaking certified guides and bilingual Acorn Express Adventures for families.
A separate installation, Cultivando Comunidad: Tree Stories in Papel Picado, will use intricately cut paper associated with Mexican folk art to tell stories about people and community organisations that plant trees in their neighbourhoods. Created by Chicago artist Jason Guzman, the display connects those stories with the Chicago Region Trees Initiative’s Tree Ambassador Program, which provides training, resources and funding to Chicago residents and community groups working to plant and care for trees. Visitors can contribute their own papel picado story to the installation.
The programme concludes with Family Lotería and Lotería Nights on October 11. The daytime event will offer bilingual hosting, custom Arboretum-themed cards and prizes, while the evening programme will provide an adults-only setting with bilingual hosting, food and drinks. Together, the events show how the Morton Arboretum is using cultural programming not only to broaden participation on its grounds, but also to explain its community tree work and conservation links across the Americas.
