We left our hotel (this weird-ass Wyndham that we stay at sometimes in South Bend when we don’t feel like driving straight through to Chicago—it’s so strange, just this big maze of hallways which the child in me LOVES and has a sports bar attached to it that had a legit bar fight spilling out into the parking lot when we arrived late Friday night) around 7:30AM on Friday morning. I feel like I was in a bitchy mood because NOTHING I BROUGHT WITH ME LOOKED RIGHT ON ME, I HAVE NO CLOTHES, I’M FAT, KILL ME, ETC. Typical “Erin in the AM” behavior. Henry used that time to dutifully slip away to fetch me coffee which definitely helped.

Did I mention that Chooch came home from Philly to hang out with our cat Penelope while we were away? Well, he did. And it was much appreciated and one less thing to stress out over except now we had the added misery of him texting us his demands the whole time we were gone. “I need money. I need food. I need clothes.”

We arrived at the Riot Fest parking lot around 9ish I guess (time goes back an hour between South Bend and Chicago). It sucked that we had to go straight there since it was way too early to check into our hotel, but IT IS WHAT IT IS. It gave us an opportunity to stop somewhere for a light breakfast on the 1.1 mile (Henry kept telling me the exact distance so when I’m in a memory facility as a senior, you can ask me “how far of a walk was it to Riot Fest 2026” and I hope this isn’t something that pushes better memories out of my head. Like, I can’t remember marrying Henry but I vividly remember the entire 1.1 mile trudge to Riot Fest and back, under piss-scented train trestles and past the small church catering a full spread of Black people cook-out staples to the Riot Fest crowd, including BANANA PUDDING.)

(NO, WE NEVER STOPPED TO GET ANY BUT I WANTED TO!!! Unfortunately, by the end of Riot Fest each day, we were just on a mission to get back to the parking lot. But I do regret it now. Those people were so damn nice.)

Originally, we were going to find a cafe and just get a pastry or whatever but then we found La Catedral which we thought was a cafe at first but ended up being a full-fledged Mexican restaurant. If there is one thing I learned from one of the earlier Riot Fests we went to is that you should never write off Mexican breakfast so we leaned into it.

I’d say the place 75% full of early Riot Fest attendees like us so it just felt super alive in there. I loved it.

Henry got a horchata latte which was so good but not as good as my cup of classic hot, black Mexican coffee. IT WAS SO SATISFYING.

(LOL THIS JUST IN: When we were there that day, I said, “I like it here because it reminds me of the place we had breakfast that one time we were here for Riot Fest” and then as I was googling this place to find a website, I realized THAT IS BECAUSE IT’S THE SAME PLACE, BUT A DIFFERENT LOCATION. It’s all coming together now. This time we were at the North Lawndale location and last time, it was the Little Village one. The Little Village one was definitely more aesthetic but they both had great food!)

We both had the breakfast croissant which was essentially what you’re imagining but then add pickled jalapenos. It was so good and the perfect sized meal that didn’t feel like a brick in my stomach. I did NOT want to waltz into Douglas Park with a stomachache, thank you. I barely can tolerate PEEING in a porta john. (This is actually, for me, the only downside to Riot Fest is that there is no way around having to use porta johns and I absolutely hate that so much. Thankfully, I managed to get by with only doing it once per day and it wasn’t bad either of those times.)

And then it was time to walk the rest of the way to the park and get in line!

I’m still on a major high from this past weekend (weather issues aside, it was pretty close to perfection and super bonding for Henry and me) and have so much to share music-wise! But right now I have to leave for the Black Queen show at SideQuest! THE BLACK QUEEN TWICE IN 6 MTHS, LET’S GO.

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