In Hindsight: An Honest Review of FEP 2025

Bogotá’s Festival Estéreo Picnic has always lived in a unique middle ground, between slick international headliners and the local underground that makes the region’s music scene so rich. But year after year it seems like its core remains intact, even during shifting times for the musical ecosystem. Once again the real heartbeat of the festival wasn’t found in the flashy mainstage names, but rather it echoed from the rain-soaked tents, the early-afternoon sets, and the artists whose work is deeply rooted in the folk, soul, and soundscapes of Latin America.

One of the weekend’s most profound musical moments came from Hermanos Gutiérrez, the Swiss-Ecuadorian guitar duo whose instrumental show felt like a desert mirage brought to Bogotá. Estevan and Alejandro’s interplay—rhythmic loops on one end, lap steel melodies on the other—created a hypnotic, near-spiritual experience. The brothers’ tribute to their own family roots and their collaborative piece with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys (who unfortunately cancelled his appearance at the event a few months prior) felt like a conversation across borders and generations. When Gustavo “El Pantera” García, the legendary trombonist from the Latin Brothers and Fruko y Sus Tesos, joined them onstage, it was the kind of moment that transcended genres—a true celebration of Latin brotherhood and musical lineage.

Another essential act was De Mar y Río, winners of the 2024 Petronio Álvarez Festival. They played to a criminally small crowd—a clear reminder that traditional music still isn’t given the platform it deserves at big festivals. The contrast was jarring. Australian pop band Parcels had a sea of people the night before at the same stage, yet this grassroots, joyful local supergroup played to just a handful. In the words of their manager Felipe Amú, more support for these acts, please.

Their vibrant fusion of marimba, vocals, and traditional Colombian Pacific coast cantos and arrullos still mesmerized the audience, proving why they’ve deservedly earned accolades such as first place at last year’s Petronio Álvarez Festival.

Here’s hoping future editions give ancestral powerhouses like these a better slot.

One of the most grounded and forward-looking performances of the weekend came courtesy of BALTHVS, the Colombian trio that’s quietly become a pillar of Latin America’s psychedelic renaissance. Taking over the Presente stage—a welcome, sponsor-free space for unfiltered artistry—their set moved with meditative precision and warmth. With swirling guitar textures, cumbia-inflected basslines, and a live groove that never felt forced, BALTHVS offered a fresh model for how Latin heritage can be expanded without being diluted. Their cover of “Alegría” by Elia y Elizabeth was one of the weekend’s few truly reverent nods to Colombian musical memory. Not a sample or a gimmick, but a sincere bridge between generations. Anchored by originals like 2024’s “Mango Season”, they reminded us that psychedelic Latin music isn’t a trend to replicate; it’s a language still being written.

Of course, the weekend wasn’t without its misses. The much-hyped Astropical, a supergroup fusion between Bomba Estéreo and Rawayana, felt like a branding exercise more than a cohesive musical project. These branding stunts disguised as music, plus excessive guest cameos like the ones from Beto of Rawayana, who appeared on stage for 10 seconds during 4 or 5 separate occasions, diluted rather than elevated performances, and the usual prioritization of global name recognition over local storytelling.

But those who ventured beyond the main path still found gold. For starters, the textured introspection of rising Ecuadorian duo MIEL, whose set of colorful synths and dreamlike dance ballads proved that intimacy still holds power on a festival stage.

Elsewhere, pablopablo blurred genres with classical flourishes and saxophone improvisations, offering one of the weekend’s most musically elegant performances.

Even in more mainstream-adjacent spaces, moments of transcendence emerged: Monterrey-based duo CLUBZ brought their cinematic synth-pop to the Presente stage with rare sincerity, and their cult-like audience—from across the region—offered proof that this was a long-awaited performance. Songs like “Épocas” and “Fútbol Rock” pulsed with layered arrangements and visuals that felt carefully sculpted rather than crowd-pleasing by design.

The Marías also took over Presente stage, not with bombast, but with elegance—gliding through a set that felt more like a cinematic dream sequence than a festival gig. Led by Puerto Rican–born María Zardoya, the band’s performance blurred boundaries: between languages, between genres, between the vintage and the futuristic. Their bilingual set flowed effortlessly from soft psych-pop to bolero-inflected grooves, always anchored by María’s breathy delivery and the band’s minimalist instrumentation. “Cariño” and “No One Noticed” were high points, but it was their cover of The Cardigans’ “Lovefool” that crystallized their sonic identity—equal parts homage and reimagining.

Even without Bad Bunny physically present, their performance of “Otro Atardecer” carried the quiet weight of collaboration between two artists shaping the emotional vocabulary of contemporary Latinx music. For a moment, it felt like time slowed down—not to look back, but to stretch the present into something more expansive and intimate.

Some of the weekend’s strongest moments, unfortunately, slipped through the cracks of our lenses—technical issues, battery deaths, and that classic Bogotá rain got the best of our gear. Nathy Peluso delivered a genre-hopping set that confirmed her as one of the most commanding live performers in the region, effortlessly weaving salsa, hip hop, and ballads into a kinetic, theatrical whole. LosPetitFellas, joined by a full choir and special guests such as Denisse Gutiérrez of Hello Seahorse!, staged what felt like a milestone show—emotional, career-defining, and packed with hometown energy. And while our footage of Sofia Kourtesis didn’t survive, her solo machine-driven set was one of the most sonically adventurous of the weekend: pulsing, playful, and deeply Latin in its undercurrent, even when filtered through Berlin’s clubland sensibilities.

To close off a memorable weekend, one of the most symbolic performances of the weekend came from Ela Minus. A glitchy, minimal set built entirely from self-made electronics, her show on the Presente stage delivered not just sonic texture, but emotional clarity. When her machines briefly failed, she rebooted in real time, grounded, and unshaken. Just as she introduced her final piece: a “reimagining of the Colombian national anthem”. The result was luminous, defiant, and unforgettable. In a festival often torn between commercial gloss and underground grit, Ela reminded us what resistance can sound like when it’s built from within.

As the big-name acts drew headlines, the soul of the festival pulsed elsewhere: in the rain-drenched dedication of niche crowds and the power of organic projects shaping the future of music. And if the Presente stage taught us anything this year, it’s that Latin America’s most urgent sounds aren’t just rising. They’re evolving, building new languages from the fragments of tradition, migration, and resistance.

We’ll be following those voices closely in the coming weeks with deep coverage from BIME Bogotá 2025 and beyond, plus a few interviews and scene reports we’ve picked up as of late. After all, the most lasting sounds rarely come from the mainstage. They echo from the edges, where things are still being invented.

More soon.

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