By: Fredwill Hernandez
In the days leading up to BottleRock’s first-ever La Onda [Latin music] festival, excitement was buzzing throughout the community, especially among downtown Napa’s Latin music fans, myself included, all eagerly awaiting the kickoff of the event held in Napa Valley, CA, on Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2. The festival showcased a truly impressive lineup. This two-day Latin music celebration featured a diverse and multi-generational group of artists, including Maná, Fuerza Regida, Alejandro Fernandez, Junior H, Farruko, Eslabon Armado, Café Tacvba, Los Ángeles Azules, Mon Lafertye, Gabito Ballestero, Danna Paola, Yahritza Y Su Escencia, Maldita Vencidad, La Arrolladora, Éden Muñoz, Ximena Sariñana, Siddharta, Yng Lvcas, and Gera MX.
The two-day festival was conceived by Dave Graham, who, together with partners Justin Dragoo and Jason Scoggins, forms Lattitude 38, the company behind the BottleRock music festivals for the past decade. Lattitude 38 benefits from insights driven by analytics and data, including the fact that Napa’s population is 41 percent Latino, predominantly of Mexican origin. It is my belief that this information and prior understanding were considered when deciding to create an all-Latin music festival.
“There are some great Latin music festivals out there, but none of this scale in Northern California. We live in a wonderful diverse region, but our Latin communities and those who love Latin music have not had a multi-day festival to call their own. We’re excited to be able to provide that with La Onda,” said Dave Graham, Partner and CEO of Latitude 38 Entertainment who produced and brought the festival to life.
La Onda also included Aztec ceremonies and performances by Mariachi groups, such as Mariachi San Francisco and a youth ensemble called Mariachi Del Valle, which has 16 members. The event highlighted, alongside various drinks and brands, 10 local wines from Latino-owned wineries like Aldina Vineyard, Bazán Cellars, Ceja Vineyards, Honrama Cellars, MaCo Vineyards, Maldonado Vineyards, and Rebledo Family Winery. All these wineries belong to the Mexican American Vintners Association (MAVA), an organization that supports Latino-owned and produced wines. For the fortunate 65,000 attendees of the two-day festival, it quickly became clear that Latitude 38 had done their research well, and everything they organized ran smoothly.
Another notable difference, in my view, was that the La Onda Latin music festival appeared to have far more sponsors than what you usually see, or what I’ve observed, at other Latin music events. This might be because they carried over the same setup and infrastructure from the BottleRock music festival, which took place the weekend before La Onda. Alternatively, it could be that companies and brands are finally catching on and wanting to tap into the significance of Hispanic demographics and their spending power, largely driven by the Latino GDP, now valued at 3.2 trillion dollars. These figures were also reported by Yahoo! Finance in a Business Wire press release for the Latino Donor Collaborative on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. “The best way to reach that demographic is through the music, Latin music in my case,” says Fredwill Hernandez, a Latin music journalist, consultant, and artist manager. Among his various roles in the Latin music industry, he also serves as VP of Artist Relations, Latin, for the Revohloo app, which enables users to create 256 different versions of a music video without using AI. “Everything about La Onda just felt different; things were deliberately arranged and placed. I was also taken aback by the large skeleton catrinas and dog statues, iconic elements of the Mexican Dia De Los Muertos celebration, which La Onda featured. Having lucha libre wrestling matches isn’t new at Latin music festivals; however, what surprised me were the lowrider show cars from San Francisco’s Street Made Car Club, representing Chicano and street Cholo culture. La Onda even had a spa, something I’ve never encountered at any other Latin music festival.”
Strolling through the family-friendly Latin music festival, one of the most noticeable differences, to me, was that it didn’t quite feel like a typical festival. Instead, it felt more like being at an amusement park or visiting Disneyland. This impression came from the well-spaced layout, with two main stages and three other distinct areas, including the Silent Disco, the Retumba Stage, and the Club. Both the Silent Disco and the Club were large spaces that had everything you’d expect at a nightclub: bars, a dance floor, colorful lights, a DJ booth, and seating areas for eating and relaxing. Everything seemed to complement its surroundings, and there were special attractions like a ring featuring masked lucha libre wrestlers, along with sixty local vendors offering delicious food and drinks from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and the wider Bay Area.
The musical lineup was top-notch, offering rock, pop, regional Mexican, Latin urban, cumbia, and Reggaeton Mexa [Reggaeton from Mexico]. Verizon, which sponsored the Regional Mexican stage — one of the two main stages – also allowed certain attendees to view the performances from their VIP viewing deck, strategically located near the stage, and allowed festivalgoers to make custom phone cases as La Onda memorabilia.
Among the acts to perform at the Verizon stage were Fuerza Regida, Alejandro Fernandez, Eslabon Armado, Los Ángeles Azules, Gabito Ballestero, Yahritza Y Su Escencia, La Arrolladora, Éden Muñoz, Nivel, Alex Fernandez, Joss Favela, and Ximena Sariñana.
On Saturday, June 1, it was intriguing that young Ranchera sensation Alex Fernandez, the grandson of the late Vicente Fernandez, and like his father, a Ranchera singer, opened the show at the Verizon stage. Interestingly, his father, Alejandro Fernandez, was also part of the lineup, performing on the same stage as the headliner to wrap up the first night.
“It’s a privilege to be part of [La Onda], such a unique Latin music festival, especially with people here in the States who probably miss our Mexican [Ranchera] music and come to experience it, to be moved and carried away by its sound. With my new album [Estoy A Un Trago Mas], released just yesterday,” shared the talented, rising Ranchera singer Alex Fernandez. He explained that he never planned to become a singer; it was something that developed over time, inspired by the wishes of his late grandfather, the Mexican Ranchera legend Vicente Fernandez. “My grandfather often told me, ‘I’d love to hear you sing. I believe you can do it.’ That’s how I slowly embraced it, and eventually, it became a part of me. The song that marked the start of my singing career, which I performed with my grandfather, was ‘Mitad Tu, Mitad Yo.’ It’s also a very meaningful song my father used to sing to my mother while she was expecting me.”
I believe Latitude 38 also considered Gen Z when it booked Yng Lvcas, Fuerza Regida, Junior H, Yahritza Y Su Escencia, Joss Favela, Gabito Ballestero, Eslabon Armado, Gera MX, and several others.
“Some of the songs I performed were “Shelby,” “Maldito Romantico,” and “Nunca Te Puedo Alcanzar,” all inspired by real-life experiences. I love it when I’m on stage and the audience knows every song and lyric, singing along as if they truly connect with the words. I began rapping at fourteen, and we’ve been doing this professionally for ten years now,” Gera MX shared smoothly after his energetic set on the La Onda stage. He also mentioned that Mexico City, Monterrey N.L., and San Luis Potosí are his favorite places to perform. “Rich Vagos is like my baby,” he said, referring to the record label he started in 2019. “I created the label not to be a boss but to build many leaders, and that approach has worked. In Mexico, we’re well-known, and every artist signed to the label has become part of a close-knit family. We proudly wear our merch; it feels like a united brotherhood that supports me wherever I go.”
In music, success often hinges on perfect timing. I believe La Onda also took advantage of the gap left by Chicago’s Ruido Fest, the three-day Latin music festival that, from its fourth year in 2018 through its final edition in 2022, was regarded by many, myself included, as the premier Latin music festival in the nation, featuring at least 50 different Latin artists over the course of the three days.
A day after the festival ended the dates for the 2025 La Onda Latin music festival were announced, the festival will return on the weekend of May 31 and June 1, 2025.
