La Onda festival took place June 1st and 2nd in Napa Valley, California. This Latin focused festival featured very well known latin artists in it’s daily lineups. On day one there were performances by Gera MX, Eden Munoz, La Arrolladora, Los Angeles Azules, Farruko, and more! The headliners for day one were Alejandro Fernandez and Junior H. There were three different stages that were not that far apart, which made it convenient to get to various performances without having to walk super far out. Despite the stages being close in proximity I was very surprised by the fact that when you were at one stage you couldn’t hear anything from the other stages. On day two there were performances by Yahritza y su Esencia, Gabito Ballesteros, Cafe Tacvba, Eslabon Armado and more. The headliners for day two were Mana and Fuerza Regida. The performances overall were very enjoyable and filled with energy, it was like a big party and even though you were around strangers the music made everyone feel united and together.
The venue itself was pretty convenient in the way everything was set up for the public, everything was relatively close in proximity. The stages were huge, so from anywhere in the crowd you were sure to have a good view of what was happening onstage. The other feature I really liked was the App the festival had, it gave out important reminders, numbers to report to, and had everything you would need within the app. They also had a good variety of food and drink options and lines weren’t too long. The parking situation is a bit tricky as they have various parking lots charging for you to leave your car parked there, and you either walk from the parking lot to the gate or you can pay transporters on bike carts to give you a ride. This is the only thing I would advise to plan ahead of time, because this whole process does take a good amount of time to deal with before getting into the festival. Within the festival they had tons of different activities such as silent disco, tattoos (yes real tattoos), hair braiding, a club, dj’s, lowrider cars, various bars, and so much more! This was really cool because it gives you other activities to do while waiting for artists to take the stage.
The organization of the festival was very professional and on schedule. This festival is brought to us by Bottlerock so they definitely have experience and know what they are doing in regards to organization around the festival and security measures.
I’ll be the first to say this festival blew my expectations out of the water. People were happy to be a part of it, the performances were great, the experience and the amount of artists you get to see makes it worth it. I saw people making memories that will last them a lifetime and seeing how music can bring complete strangers together to celebrate our culture and have a good time was amazing to be a part of. As someone who is majoring in Music Industry Studies im beyond happy to see La gente latina getting festivals of this magnitude for us to celebrate and take part of.
As Media, I got access to press conferences with some of the artists performing at the festival. Such as Joss Favela, La Arrolladora, YNG Lvcas, Eslabon Armado, Fuerza Regida, and more. It was refreshing to hear these artists’ enthusiasm to be a part of the festival, and we got some special hints on things to look forward to, such as Fuerza Regidas tour, new music this summer, and potential collabs.
As the festival ended La Onda announced the 2025 dates: May 31st and June 1st along with where to get tickets starting now! Who would you like to see in next year’s lineup? Is there anything the festival could do better for next year? Let us know your thoughts!! Stay tuned and follow @la_guerita_de_backstage for more exclusive content from La Onda Festival!!