Biggest Latin Music Festival Producers Talk ‘The Art of the Festival’ at Billboard Latin Music Week

As Latin music continues to gain prominence worldwide, Latin music festivals have also been boosted globally in recent years. This was the topic of conversation at Monday’s (Oct. 2) The Art of the Festival panel at Billboard Latin Music Week — presented by Viña del Mar, the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America.

Featuring Chris Den Uijl (co-founder of La Familia Presenta), John Frias (CEO, Frias Entertainment Group, Bésame Mucho Music Festival), Alfonso Lanza García (CCO of Primavera Sound, CEO, Vampire Studio), and Daniel Merino (producer of Festival Viña del Mar), the panelists discussed what makes a successful fest today, from the best festival producers in the world.

Moderated by Bruno Del Granado, head of global Latin music touring group of CAA (Creative Artists Agency), the panel went behind the scenes of crafting and sustaining a successful Latin music festival in this era.

“Viña has its own identity,” says Merino, who helps run the iconic Chilean event, which started in 1960. He explains that it’s the only festival that doubles as a television show and lasts one full week.

Rosarito, Mexico’s own Baja Beach Fest began five years ago as the only exclusively reggaetón festival in the world. Den Uijl explained how the West Coast had no essential event in the Latin music space at the time. “The West Coast has 40 million people living in California, and 17 million are Mexicans,” he says. He also mentions how he expanded with Sueños in Chicago, while also programming more música Mexicana talent as the genre has had a massive spike internationally.

Conversely, with L.A.’s Bésame Mucho festival, Frias dives into how they found their niche by not going with the current mainstream; instead finding an audience in underserved markets by booking nostalgic acts.

As Bad Bunny became the first Latin music act to headline Coachella this year, Del Granado asked the U.S.-based festival runners if their job had become more difficult. The answer is not so simple, but they all agreed that the genre’s popularity has attracted audiences beyond the Latino demographic. “Where we’re competing is in the hard tickets,” says Den Uijl

“After so long, artists want to perform at Primavera Sound. It’s something that artists are looking for, it gives them cache, it gives them prestige, and we love it,” says Garza Garcia. Primavera Sound, which was founded in 2001 and is now based in different major cities of Spain, has drawn some of the biggest acts from both the American mainstream and Latin realm.

Celebrated for more than 30 years, the 2023 edition of Latin Music Week will include a Superstar Q&A with Shakira; the Legends on Legends chat with Chencho Corleone and Vico C; Making the Hit Live! with Carin León and Pedro Capó; a panel with RBD’s Christian Chávez, Christopher von Uckermann, and Maite Perroni; Superstar Songwriter discussion with Edgar Barrera and Keityn, among many other panels, Q&As and workshops. See the ultimate Latin Music Week guide here. This year’s Latin Music Week, taking place Oct. 2-6, also includes showcases by Peso Pluma, Mike Bahía and Greeicy, DannyLux and Fonseca, to name a few. Check out the dates and times for the showcases throughout the week here.

Official partners of the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Week include AT&T, Cheetos, CN Bank, Delta Air Lines, Lexus, Netflix, Michelob ULTRA and Smirnoff.

Latin Music Week coincides with the 2023 Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, which will broadcast live from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., on Thursday (Oct. 5) and will air on Telemundo. It will also broadcast simultaneously on Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.

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