The global salsa frenzy, partly sparked by Bad Bunny with his No. 1 album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, will arrive on Saturday (March 14) at Vive Latino, courtesy of the legendary group El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. This marks the first time in the festival’s 26 editions that a salsa band will perform, expanding the musical spectrum of the iconic annual rock gathering in Mexico City.
“It’s fair to say this is already a generational band; it’s the great salsa band,” Jordi Puig, director and founder of Vive Latino, tells Billboard Español. “We’re going to have fun and dance to the beat of a first-class salsa orchestra.”
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Bad Bunny’s adaptation of the classic “Un Verano en Nueva York” into “Nuevayol,” one of the standout hits from his successful album, has reignited interest among younger generations. Created by Cuban Justi Barreto for the group in 1975 and masterfully performed by Andy Montañez, it’s become one of the most famous songs in El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico’s catalog, and a totemic piece of salsa history.
According to Puig, the inclusion of such an iconic salsa group this year reaffirms the transgressive personality that the Festival Iberoamericano de Cultura Musical, better known as Vive Latino, has acquired since its creation in 1998. Over time, it has challenged stigmas by including pop, reggaetón, cumbia and regional Mexican artists in its lineup; adding Anglo bands while being the ultimate celebration of rock in Spanish; and being the first Latin American festival to have its own edition in Spain.
And it has done all of this “while continuing this wave where Vive has to open its cultural mosaic without giving up its origin, its base, its foundations,” highlights the director.
With an eclectic lineup and multiple activities, Mexico’s longest-running festival celebrates its 2026 edition this weekend (March 14-15) at the GNP Seguros Stadium with a lineup that includes Illya Kuryaki and The Valderramas, Fobia in the Mexican rock band’s return, Juanes, The Smashing Pumpkins, Trueno, Banda Machos and John Fogerty. Puig says he expects to welcome between 140,000 and 150,000 attendees over the two days, similar to previous years.
This year, the festival will bring back a segment called “Música para mandar a volar” (or Music to Let Go), which he defines as “an unprecedented act of heartbreak,” with performances by prominent figures of Mexican rock and pop from the ’80s and more recent times. Paulina Rubio, Dana, Amanda Miguel, Emmanuel and Mijares will share the stage with Dr. Shenka, vocalist of the ska-rock band Panteón Rococó.
Additionally, for the third consecutive year, audiences worldwide will be able to stream the concerts through AmazonMusicEnVivo on Twitch and Prime Video, exclusively and without a subscription. According to Paul Forat, head of music industry for Spanish-speaking Latin America at Amazon Music, Vive Latino will be livestreamed for 11 hours each day, covering approximately 98% of its programming.
“This is the festival that Amazon chose globally in such a solid, beautiful and genuine partnership, because we share many values,” Forat tells Billboard Español. “For Amazon, being a non-Mexican company, connecting with people in Mexico and beyond seemed extremely important to us; it seemed crucial.”
Vive Latino thus joins a global portfolio of live streams previously carried out by Amazon Music, including festivals like Sueños Festival (Chicago), Primavera Sound, Fuji Rock Festival, Stagecoach Festival, Dreamville Festival and Vibra Urbana, solidifying an international strategy where festivals are a key pillar of livestream growth.
