It’s back: The annual Adams Avenue Street Fair is now in its 43rd year.

The outdoor music festival along Adams in Normal Heights has become an event highly anticipated by locals.

But it’s not just the people in front of the stages having all the fun – those onstage can and do sometimes enjoy the event just as much.

Various musicians who have played the event over the years said they they have profoundly appreciated the experience.

Among them is Mariela Contreras, a vocalist with Sabrosas Latin Orchestra, a San Diego-based all-female salsa band that played the street fair for the first time a few years ago and is back this year.

“As a performer, it was awesome (to perform at the street fair), because there’s so many local musicians that play and it’s so cool to overlap and get to liste

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