Musicians announced for Napa’s Festival La Onda

Headliners for the two-day event at the Napa Valley Expo will include Maná, Fuerza Regida, Alejandro Fernández and Junior H, according to La Onda’s creator Latitude 38 Entertainment, the longtime producer of BottleRock. The new festival will take place at the Expo June 1 and 2, 2024, the weekend after BottleRock’s three-day run at the fairground.

Tickets for Festival La Onda will go on sale at 10 a.m. PST Friday, Latitude 38 announced Monday morning. Both weekend and single-day passes are available online at LaOndaFest.com.

One of the leading lights of rock en español since the late 1980s, Maná has placed 15 songs at the top of Billboard’s Latin Pop Airplay chart, according to the music industry publication. The band recently scored its first chart-topper for Regional Mexican Airplay with a remake of its 2011 hit “Amor Clandestino,” which reached No. 1 on Nov. 11 in a version accompanied by Eden Muñoz.

Fuerza Regida, whose members were raised in San Bernardino, has won acclaim for music played in the regional Mexican genre with northern Mexican roots. The band’s last three albums have reached the top three of the Billboard Latin chart, including “Pa Las Baby’s y Belikeada,” which was released in October.

Alejandro Fernández rose to fame in the 1990s singing in the ranchera style of his father, the late Mexican superstar Vicente Fernández. Gradually shifting into a more mainstream pop style, he has won 11 Latin Grammy Awards and performed with a variety of pop and classical artists, from Beyoncé and Nelly Furtado to Plácido Domingo and José Carreras.

Junior H, who began recording in 2019, has scored placed five albums on Billboard’s Latin Top 10 – including his latest, “$ad Boyz 4 Life II,” from October.

Other musicians scheduled to perform at Festival La Onda include Farruko, Eslabon Armado, Café Tacvba, Los Ángeles Azules, Mon Laferte, Gabito Ballesteros, Danna Paola, Yahritzia y Su Esencia, Maldita Vecindad, La Arrolladora, Edén Muñoz, Gera MX, Ximena Sariñana, Siddhartha, Yng Lvcas, Silvana Estrada, Nivel, Allison, Mario Bautista, Alex Fernández, Joss Favela, Kaia Lana, Wonderfox, Agudelo888 and DJ RayBurger.

Latitude 38 – which purchased BottleRock the year after its 2013 debut – announced the Latin music festival’s arrival last week at the Expo, during a community meeting with residents of the fairground neighborhood east of downtown Napa.

Latitude 38 partners Justin Dragoo, Dave Graham and Jason Scoggins described the new venture as a way to serve Latin music fans in the Bay Area who currently travel to the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas to see major Spanish-language stars in concert. “Over the last 10 years, we’ve been hit up by family and friends and others to do something,” Graham said during the Nov. 28 announcement.

Festival La Onda – named for the Spanish word for “wave” that can also mean “vibe” – will mimic BottleRock by also showcasing Napa Valley wines and food, according to its producers. Plans for the event include local and regional Latin cuisine and beverages, along with such BottleRock-style amenities as a spa, dance club and silent disco.

The new event will become Napa County’s second showcase for Latin music, following the September launch of Sabor + Ritmo at the Silverado Resort and Spa. That festival was developed by Wine Down Media, which owns the Napa-based Spanish-language station KVON-AM 1440.