Latin Music Festivals Scramble Amid Visa Uncertainty: ‘It's Scary'
Michelada, a Chicago-based event, became the first of its kind to cancel over the 'rapidly changing political climate.' The festival wrote on May 6, 'We're no longer able to guarantee the full experience we had dreamed up for you with all your favorite artists. Although we tried to push through, it became clear that we wouldn't be able to deliver the full lineup as planned.'
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Just a month earlier, organizers had unveiled a lineup that included Grupo Firme, Luis R. Conriquez, Los Alegres Del Barranco, and Netón Vega. They quickly replaced Los Alegres — whose visas were revoked by the State Department over their depiction of a cartel kingpin at a show in Mexico — with Gabito Ballesteros. But with visa statuses for both Ballesteros and Conriquez now uncertain, organizers were forced to act quickly and cancel the event altogether.
'It's not fair to the consumer to go through those changes,' says Miguel Torres, one of Michelada's owners. 'You want to deliver on what you promise, and not create the question of, 'Will the artist be there or not?''
'It was too big of a gamble and a risk to move forward,' adds Fernando Nieto, Michelada's co-founder.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has made securing work visas incredibly difficult for international artists. (FKA Twigs canceled a U.S. run over the issue.) And, on top of that, there's a growing fear of visa revocations among artists who perform narcocorridos, over what happened to Los Alegres del Barranco. At the time of Los Alegres' revocation, Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau accused the group of 'glorifying' criminals and terrorists with their performances.
Promoter and new Jalo Fest organizer Ricky Calderon has also had to deal with these issues in the last few weeks. Calderon noticed how difficult securing visas has become under the presidential administration for many artists, and moved quickly to address the problems at two of his own events last month. The organizer had booked both Alegres del Barranco and Gabito Ballesteros for a pair of shows in Northern California in late April. Just days before, he was forced to replace them with other artists.
'Everyone wants to go to these shows, but it really affected us,' Calderon says. 'What can I say?'
Calderon says the situation also affects promoters' credibility with ticket buyers, who are already struggling to cover the rising costs of shows. With the concern around artists being able to stick on the lineup, fans are choosing to wait until closer to the event to purchase tickets.
As he deals with the repercussions at one-off shows, Calderon has also been slowly rolling out Jalo Fest, the first-ever Latin music festival in Sacramento, slated for this summer. He's already confirmed appearances from El Tri, Tucanes de Tijuana, Eslabón Armado, and Santa Fe Klan, among others, but the visa problems have affected three artists he planned to feature: Alegres, Ballesteros, and Edición Especial. The setback forced him to postpone his fest's lineup announcement multiple times, preventing his organization from getting a head start on sales.
'We were supposed to announce and go on sale two months back,' Calderón says of the event, scheduled for Aug. 30 and 31. 'People don't want to buy tickets knowing that things might get canceled down the line. It's really affecting us. It's a big investment for both the people and also for us as business people.'
After Michelada's cancellation, it's unclear how Chicago's Sueños Fest will fare later this month, given that the lineup prominently features corridos acts such as Peso Pluma, Tito Double P, and Oscar Maydon. BottleRock's La Onda Fest will also showcase similar artists the following weekend in Napa. (Reps for those festivals did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment.)
Abel DeLuna, founder and board member of Latino promoter collective Promotores Unidos, has his act Sonora Tropicana performing at the NorCal event. He says the delay in visa issuance (and the narcocorrido conversation) is unprecedented, and will likely have lasting effects on the industry. As demand for the artists in the genre continues to grow, so too does the uncertainty around booking them.
'I think this is going to affect us as long as this president is in office. And now, with Mexico prohibiting corridos… The government hasn't prohibited it here, but we're scared that it could happen,' explains DeLuna. 'You never know what to expect with Donald Trump.'
DeLuna says that as an organization, the association of promoters has discussed how to help each other out, but ultimately, 'we don't have a solution to this,' he says. 'What we are going through now is something I have never seen before.'
Ramiro Bojorquez, organizer of Belico Fest in Phoenix, which debuted last year with several artists known for their narcocorridos, is proceeding with caution, but remains committed to delivering a top-tier show. After hosting Gerardo Ortiz, Junior H, and Luis R. Conriquez in 2024, he feels a responsibility to keep the Mexican music event alive and ensure it lives up to the 'Belico' name.
'I'm investing a lot of money in this and I'm a bit scared, but it's a passion project for me,' says Bojorquez.
Slowly, he's been announcing acts confirmed for the fall event: Xavi and Clave Especial, who are all U.S. citizens, and Netón Vega, who had his work visa confirmed last month, he says. Bojorquez 'had to pull back' on announcing other acts for the festival, and ultimately decided not to re-book Conriquez, the leader of the belico subgenre.
'We're very, very cautious about who we book, and not taking away from the whole experience, because our name is based on that genre and culture of Mexican music,' says Bojorquez. 'It's a movement that we started, and now we have to continue. We can't let government restrictions stop us. We gotta work with what we have and give the audiences what they want.'
As Belico Fest continues filling out their lineup, Bojorquez explains that he's going to focus on booking artists who are either from the United States or already have their visas confirmed, contending that it's not worth the risk of having to pull out an artist. 'It's scary because you're investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a festival and you're dependent on the outcome of the festival,' he says.
Bojorquez also pointed to a troubling double standard that seems to specifically target Mexican musicians, while other media portraying narcoculture, like Netflix's Narcos, which explores the drug trade and depicts figures like El Chapo Guzmán, face no scrutiny.
'I can't stay quiet. I can't keep my arms closed,' says Bojorquez. 'It's happening on Netflix and in other parts of the media. You can't blindfold people because you don't like the way they talk.'
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