Since the end of the pandemic, the musical offering in Mexico City has more than doubled, going from five main festivals: Vive Latino, Corona Capital, EDC, Flow Fest and Ceremonia, to ten.
In 2022, Tecate Emblema was born, a space dedicated to pop and urban music, which has featured artists such as Robbie Williams, Gwen Stefani, Back Street Boys, Sebastián Yatra and Sam Smith.
Bob Hardy, bassist for the British band Franz Ferdinand, said that these types of spaces are similar to a “conference where you receive people from different parts of the world,” making them an ideal space for collaborations that would not be seen anywhere else.
“You go to a festival and you see a band from the United Kingdom playing with a Mexican band, it’s exciting. You have all day to listen to music, and since the crowds tend to be so large, there is a collective sense of belonging and being part of something.”
Spaces for all tastes
In 2023, the Arre Festival was born, dedicated exclusively to regional Mexican music, which has welcomed veterans such as Ramón Ayala, Los Tigres del Norte and Banda Cuisillos, to new exponents of the genre such as Natanael Cano, Peso Pluma and Junior H.
Mexcla was also created, an event organized by the Spotify platform at the beginning of November in the Bicentennial Park, which featured the participation of national talent.
This year, the Hera Festival was born, conceived by a committee made up of figures such as singers Ximena Sariñana and Elis Paprika, and communicator Gina Jaramillo, whose lineup is made up of projects led by women.
In its first edition held on August 24, they welcomed 48,300 people, and Evanescence, Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato and Danna as headliners.
Denise Gutiérrez, vocalist of the band Hello Seahorse!, who also participated in the lineup, celebrated that the industry allows artists to have meeting points.
“It is a good space to listen to all kinds of music in a certain period of time. We like the energy that is created at festivals, behind the scenes musicians meet among colleagues, it is a good time to even reach new agreements on things that we want to do, we love it.”
Versatility the main guest
In the capital’s festival scene it has become increasingly common to see artists of opposite genres coexist in the same space. The pop group Belanova triumphed at the reggaeton festival Flow Fest, while Belinda performed at the Arre Festival with her corrido tumbado songs.
Another of the new festivals was the Simi Fest, which arose from an initiative by Víctor González Herrera, to offer an affordable space with artists of international stature and for all tastes.
This first edition featured Jungle, Anderson. Paak, Plastilina Mosh, Technicolor Fabrics, Motel, Ely Guerra, Ruzzi and Romoo. It brought together 15 thousand people in the Bicentennial Park, and on social networks it was rated as the best festival of the year.
The Spanish singer Depresión Sonora believed that this type of spaces are ideal for the public to discover other rhythms, and thus the music industry can grow.
“You have to give that opportunity, go see it and discover new things, or people that you might not pay a ticket to see alone in a venue, and take advantage of that opportunity and see a fragment, which maybe you end up falling in love with or not, but it has that point of discovery that is what is interesting.”
Source: oem
