10 To Watch at Festival Cordillera 2025
18 August, 2025Festival Cordillera has quickly become one of the most vital gatherings for Latin American music. Not just a festival, but a panorama of the region’s past, present, and future. Each edition draws legends, cult heroes, and emerging voices into one shared stage, proving that our musical languages remain as urgent and alive as ever. 2025 is no exception.
From historic icons of salsa and rock to radical experimenters, intimate songwriters, and explosive live acts, this year’s lineup maps out the vast territory of Latin sound and spirit. Here’s a shortlist of our must-watch acts for the event’s upcoming edition:
Fito Páez
Few names carry the weight of Fito Páez in Latin rock. The Rosario-born singer, pianist, and songwriter is not only the author of El Amor Después del Amor, the best-selling album in Argentine rock history, but also a living bridge between the rebellious trova rosarina of the ’80s and the global stages of today. With more than 40 years of career, 28 studio albums, and nine Latin Grammys under his belt, Fito has nothing left to prove, yet he continues to reinvent himself.
2025 finds him once again in motion. His new record Novela shows that he’s still chasing stories, melodies, and experiments, while collaborations with regional colleagues like Melingo and Turf keep him woven into the present fabric of Argentine music. It’s this duality—canonized as legend, but never settling into the museum—that makes his Cordillera appearance so urgent. His songs are part of the collective unconscious in Argentina and beyond. Lyrics that speak of love, politics, joy, and melancholy in a language only Río de la Plata rock could create. For Colombians and the wider Latin American audience at Cordillera, his set promises not just nostalgia, but living proof that the music which defined past generations still has the power to ignite new ones.
After being forced to cancel his 2024 appearance at the festival due to an accident, his return feels even more charged with anticipation. Páez will set the tone with a special piano recital at the Teatro Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (Sept. 12), before closing the main stage at Parque Simón Bolívar on Sept. 14. Expect a repertoire that moves between timeless hymns, and the sharp, searching energy that has kept him relevant through decades of Latin rock evolution.
Laura Pérez
In a city like Bogotá which is constantly bursting with eclectic sounds, Laura Pérez has carved out a place through sheer intimacy. Her music doesn’t come dressed in layers of production. It arrives with voice and guitar, stripped down but full of emotional weight. “I like to think that music chose me as a tool to make the inexplicable audible,” she writes. And that credo runs through every song she shares.
Her presence hasn’t gone unnoticed on this tribune. Mónica Giraldo, one of Colombia’s most respected singer-songwriters, recently highlighted Laura on this tribune as one of the most exciting new voices she’s seen on stage, praising the honesty and energy in her performances. It’s the kind of endorsement that matters: a bridge between generations of Colombian folk-rooted artistry, where authenticity has always been the currency.
For Cordillera and the broader scene, Laura is one of those artists you want to catch early. Not just because she’s rising fast, but because her songs feel like companions. Meant to walk with you, to console, and to reveal something honest in the process.
Rubén Blades y Roberto Delgado Big Band
At this stage in his career, Rubén Blades feels like the perfect headliner for Festival Cordillera. Few artists embody the depth, history, and spirit of Latin music as fully as the Panamanian icon, often called “el poeta de la salsa”. With more than twenty studio albums, fourteen Grammy Awards, and a career that spans music, film, politics, and activism, Blades isn’t just a performer, but rather a cultural force.
His songs, from the streetwise drama of “Pedro Navaja” to the anthemic “Patria”, blend salsa’s irresistible energy with sharp social and political storytelling. This is what critics mean when they call his style “salsa intelectual”. Music made for both the body and the mind.
In recent years, Blades has found new life on stage through his partnership with the Roberto Delgado Big Band, a powerhouse 20-piece orchestra from Panama. Under Delgado’s direction, the band brings Blades’ catalogue into a lush, full-bodied big band sound, reviving classics and giving fresh power to his most ambitious works. Together, they’ve released a string of celebrated albums, including Salswing! (Latin Grammy Album of the Year, 2021) and Siembra: 45° Aniversario – En Vivo (Grammy winner, 2024), which re-imagined Blades’ landmark 1978 record with Willie Colón.
What makes this set so special for Festival Cordillera is its sense of scale and history. Blades is not just bringing a concert; he’s bringing the weight of five decades of music that has shaped Latin identity worldwide. Backed by Delgado’s orchestra, expect a performance that’s both timeless and explosive—a living legend celebrating his legacy with the force of a full big band behind him.
Ximena Sariñana
Ximena Sariñana’s storied career speaks for itself. With five studio albums to her name, she has earned nominations at both the Grammy Awards and Latin Grammys, establishing herself as one of Latin America’s most versatile voices. She has performed at major international festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza, and LAMC in New York, and has collaborated with artists such as Miguel Bosé, Los Ángeles Azules, Natalia Lafourcade, Dillon Francis, LP, Siddhartha, Alejandro Sanz, and more recently acclaimed Australian pop group Parcels.
Her discography includes Mediocre (2008), Ximena Sariñana (2011), No todo lo puedes dar (2014), ¿Dónde bailarán las niñas? (2019), and Amor adolescente (2021), as well as the recent EP Ojos diamante (2024). Songs like “Vidas paralelas”, “Mediocre”, “Different”, “Cobarde”, “Si tú te vas”, and “Lo bailado” have become essential parts of her repertoire, celebrated for blending pop, alternative, and Latin rhythms with deeply personal lyrics.
Sariñana began her career as a child actress in telenovelas such as Luz Clarita and María Isabel, and in films like Amarte duele and Niñas mal. Her artistic background extends to music studies at Mexico’s Fermatta Academy and later at Berklee College of Music.
Beyond her art, she is an outspoken activist, serving as an ambassador for Greenpeace and UN Women in Latin America. In 2024, she co-created Hera Festival with OCESA, a platform dedicated to elevating women’s voices in music.
This year, she unveiled “ALV”, the first glimpse of her upcoming musical project, marking a new chapter in her ever-evolving career. Known for her fearless artistic choices and commitment to representation, Ximena arrives at Festival Cordillera 2025 as one of Mexico’s most influential and beloved voices.
Los Caligaris
From Córdoba to the world, Los Caligaris have been perfecting the alchemy of joy for over 25 years. With a sound that blends ska, rock, punk, murga, and brass-driven carnival energy, they’ve built a reputation as one of Argentina’s most beloved live acts. A band that doesn’t just play concerts, but stages spectacles.
Formed in 1997, the group took their name from a legendary Italian clown who laughed until the moment of his death. A fitting symbol for a band that insists on taking happiness seriously. Their shows, often billed as “El show más feliz del mundo” (“The Happiest Show in the World”), combine acrobatic circus antics with big-band ska grooves, transforming any stage into a jubilant arena where audience and performers become one.
Through more than two decades of relentless touring, Los Caligaris have earned a cult following across Latin America, Mexico, the United States, and Europe. They’ve played festivals like Rock al Parque in Bogotá and sold out arenas such as Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes in record time, confirming their status as masters of communal celebration.
With hits like “Razón”, “Quereme así”, and “Kilómetros”, plus countless collaborations with icons like Los Auténticos Decadentes, their music carries the spirit of Argentinian ska and murga into the 21st century. Their latest projects continue to expand their sound while staying true to their roots in carnival and community. Few bands embody the collective spirit of Latin American festivals as fully as they do, and that’s why their set is not to be missed.
Frente Cumbiero
For more than 15 years, Frente Cumbiero have represented Colombia’s most radical re-imagining of its most emblematic rhythm. Led by composer, producer, and sonic anthropologist Mario Galeano Toro, who is also the co-founder of Los Pirañas and Ondatrópica, the Bogotá-based collective has carved out a space where cumbia is not a nostalgic relic, but a living, mutating force with global resonance.
Their sound is a collision of folkloric percussion, brass-driven power, dub experimentation, and analogue synths, all wired through Galeano’s concept of tropicanibalismo de alta montaña — an experimental, high-altitude vision of Caribbean music for the 21st century. Onstage, the quartet lineup hits heavy, blending reeds, timbales, sequencers, and live electronics into a dancefloor-pounding arsenal that feels both rooted and futuristic.
Over the years, Frente have collaborated with legends like Mad Professor, Kronos Quartet, Minyo Crusaders, and La Delio Valdez, and have carried Colombian cumbia to stages across Latin America, Europe, Africa, Japan, Russia, Australia, and the U.S. Their recordings have surfaced on underground taste-maker labels from Soundway (UK) to Vampisoul (Spain) and La Roma Records (Mexico), cementing their reputation as spearheads of the “new cumbia” movement.
In 2020, they returned with Cera Perdida, their first full-length in nearly a decade, followed by the Japan-Colombia fusion EP Minyo Cumbiero. Now, in 2025, Galeano and crew push even further with Inconcreto & Asociados, a sprawling album that doubles as a manifesto for cumbia’s transcontinental future. Featuring collaborators from Argentina, Brazil, the UK, and Mexico’s rebajada underground, it’s a record that feels less like a studio production and more like a multi-dimensional field recording from alternate realities.
In a lineup heavy with cumbia royalty, Frente stand out as the genre’s boldest experimenters, proof that the beat can be both ancestral and insurgent at once.
Crudo Means Raw
Born in New York but raised in Medellín, Fernando Bustamante — aka Crudo Means Raw — has become one of the most distinctive voices in Colombian rap. His sound is exactly what his name declares: raw, unfiltered, and organic, built on deep hip hop foundations but open to the swing of dembow, salsa, reggae and the streets of his city.
Tracks like “La mitad de la mitad” and “No Copio” turned into instant anthems, breaking past niche rap circles to echo in clubs and fiestas across Colombia. His 2019 album Esmeraldas confirmed him as a game-changer, while collaborations with Juanes and lifelong friend J Balvin showed just how far his music could travel without losing its authenticity.
For Crudo, Medellín isn’t just home — it’s his muse, his rhythm, his vocabulary. Every verse carries the accent, humour, and grit of the city, flipping hip hop into something unmistakably paisa and unmistakably his own. As he told Sounds and Colours in an interview around the release of Esmeraldas, his project has never been just about him, but about the people, the collective, and the energy that keeps Colombian rap alive.
At Festival Cordillera 2025, expect a set that’s as honest as it is explosive: beats that rumble with bass, lyrics that cut straight to the bone, and a flow that proves why Colombian rap has never sounded this alive.
Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas
Few bands embody the fearless spirit of ’90s Latin rock quite like Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas. Born in Buenos Aires out of the teenage partnership of Dante Spinetta (son of legendary Luis Alberto “Flaco” Spinetta) and Emmanuel Horvilleur, IKV mashed together funk, hip hop, soul, and rock at a time when genre lines were still tight. Their retro-futurist style, martial-arts aesthetics, and irreverent humour placed them at the vanguard of the Nuevo Rock Latinoamericano, a movement that would ripple across the continent and eventually into the U.S.
Their early albums Fabrico Cuero (1991) and Horno Para Calentar los Mares (1993) carved out a cult following, but it was 1995’s Chaco — and the era-defining anthem Abarajame — that turned IKV into icons. From there, they conquered MTV with a legendary Unplugged session (Ninja Mental), pushed Latin funk into new territory on Versus and Leche, and even linked with funk royalty Bootsy Collins along the way.
Though they split in 2001, both pursued successful solo careers before reuniting a decade later for Chances (2012), Aplaudan en la Luna (2014), and L.H.O.N. (2016). Their comeback confirmed what fans already knew: IKV’s blend of hip hop swagger, Prince-inspired funk, and rock experimentalism was timeless. These guys definitely remain one of Latin America’s most electrifying duos, always ready to tear down barriers between rap, rock, funk, and pure groove.
Silvana Estrada
From the lush landscapes of Xalapa, Veracruz, to stages around the world, Silvana Estrada has become one of the most captivating voices of her generation. Raised by musician parents and steeped in the craft of instrument making, she grew up surrounded by sound, silence, and song. Her music carries that legacy forward — blending Mexican folk roots, the freedom of jazz, and the intimacy of poetry.
In 2022, she won the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist, marking the arrival of a truly singular voice in Latin American music. Since then, Silvana has continued to enchant global audiences with her heartfelt performances and collaborations alongside artists like Natalia Lafourcade, Mon Laferte, and AURORA.
Now, in 2025, she is opening a new chapter with her forthcoming album, Vendrán suaves lluvias — a collection of songs that move between tenderness and power, light and shadow, always anchored in her unmistakable voice. Recent singles like “Como un pájaro”, “Lila Alelí”, and “Dime” offer a glimpse of the emotional depth and luminous storytelling that define this new era.
Silvana doesn’t just sing; she creates worlds — where fragility becomes strength, where melancholy turns into beauty, and where every note feels like a hand reaching out.
Planes
Some bands disappear into legend, their echoes kept alive only by devoted fans and the occasional rediscovery. Planes, led by Colombian songwriter and cultural researcher Pablo Escallón, are one of those cases. Their only full-length album, Las Américas (2014), became a word-of-mouth classic, its delicate songwriting and expansive soundscapes transforming the group into a cult reference in Bogotá’s alternative scene.
Escallón’s career has always walked that line between visibility and enigma. From his early collaborations with Esteman, long before pop stardom, to his celebrated single “Barco de Río” — whose “espiritualizado” version was featured in S&C’s Colombia compilation back in 2012 — his work feels less like a straight path than a constellation of moments that suddenly flare into view.
After Planes, Escallón resurfaced with projects like Buenas Noches and the exquisite llilli, a project praised for its conceptual richness and dreamlike atmospheres. Dalia EP, written with Mexican composer Andrés Acosta (Andy Mountains/Peras al Olmo), unfolded the story of a misunderstood prophetess turned deity. A mythic narrative wrapped in ambient textures and pop sensibilities.
Now, against all odds and expectations, Planes reunite. What began as a short-lived yet cherished chapter in Colombia’s indie history returns with the weight of a cult status, and with the maturity of an artist who has never stopped reinventing himself. For longtime listeners, it feels like a homecoming. For new audiences, it’s a chance to step into a world that was always ahead of its time.
Taken as a whole, these artists are a reminder that despite its commercial identity, Cordillera is making a serious effort to honour legacy while amplifying what’s next. It’s a stage where timeless stories meet luminous new songs, cult projects resurface alongside carnival fire and Bogotá’s own underground rewires tradition for the future, while mainstream figures prove that reinvention never stops. In a time when Latin American music resonates louder than ever across the world, this event stands as both a celebration and a declaration, that the heartbeat of the continent is strongest when we hear it together.
Festival Cordillera 2025 takes place on September 13 and 14 at Parque Simón Bolívar in Bogotá. Don’t miss this celebration of Latin American music in all its forms. Click here to check out the full lineup, information on tickets and more.
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