The biggest Latin, Mexican music acts keep coming to Fresno. What’s behind the trend?

It started with the dances — bands coming up from Mexico to perform in downtown Fresno at the Convention Center or Rainbow Ballroom — for fans who discovered the music in the old ways, through the radio or on cassette tapes sold at weekend swap meets, but mostly through word of mouth.

The music was represented regionally, in genres like Tejano, Norteño and banda.

“Friday after Friday, we’d have different artists and it would always be packed,” says Valdivia Marketing Group CEO, David Valdivia, whose family has been promoting Regional Mexican music in the Central Valley for decades.

“Packed” was relative, of course.

Back then, if you could pull 4,000-plus people, for a band like Los Bukis, “you were happy,” Valdivia says.

“The potential now is ...”

Sixteen thousand people showed up at the Save Mart Center to see the Tijuana band Grupo Firme in 2022; the same year it played the much-hyped Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

Twenty-thousand went to Chukchansi Park in March to see a lineup of artists that included a still-underground Peso Pluma. By that July the singer had hit No. 1 on the Spotify Global Top Songs chart, had eight songs on Billboard’s Hot 100 and had performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

It was the first time a Mexican artist had performed on the late-night show.

Regional Mexican music is in the midst of a massive surge in popularity (Billboard magazine called it a movement) and its biggest stars keep booking dates in Fresno. Along with the aforementioned Peso Pluma, singers like Junior H and Christian Nodal have also seen massive successes, along with artists such as Grupo Frontera and Banda MS.

All have performed at Fresno’s largest venues this year.

“Fresno is an important market for all of California,” says Tim Luce, general manager for Banda MS in the United States.

“It’s a significant market that everyone wants to play.”

Ealier this month, Banda MS headlined a concert at Chukchansi Park in a lineup of acts that included popular teenage singer Yahritza.

Banda MS is celebrating its 20th anniversary and has been at the forefront of bringing Regional Mexican music to larger crowds. Its founder, Sergio Lizárraga, was one of the first to see the potential of moving into stadiums and arenas, Luce says.

“He was pioneer, going from dances to concerts. He said, ‘I want to play Madison Square Garden.’”

And they did, more than once.

‘Despacito’ and a mythical barrier lifted

Of course, to fully understand what’s happening with Regional Mexican music, one needs to look at Latin music more generally.

And for that, you have to talk about “Despacito.”

The song was everywhere in 2017, properly introducing the world to Latin pop and more specifically a thing called reggaeton.

“Despacito” became a global hit for Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and the rapper Daddy Yankee (though Justin Bieber eventually got in on a remix) and is widely considered one of the most successful Spanish-language songs. Ever.

The video was the most watched thing in the history of YouTube and was only bested by “Baby Shark.”

“From then on, it’s been kind of like a revelation,” says Maria Alegria, Live Nation’s Regional Marketing Director for Latin music in California. “There was a mythical barrier that was lifted.”

As more people both in and outside of Latin communities begin embracing its music, “more of its tentacles are coming out,” Alegria says. At the same time, the fans are getting more comfortable going to arenas and stadiums to see concerts, and realizing “those are space for them as well,” she says.

“Latin music, in all its beauty and all its masterfullness, is taking its rightful place.”

That can be seen in Fresno.

Along with Regional Mexican artists, the Save Mart Center has seen an influx of Puerto Rican, Colombia and other Latin artists. The boy band CNCO played the arena in May. Colombia singer Karol G sold out the venue on her Strip Love tour last year.

This is something new, Valdivia says.

Used to be, “if an artist from Puerto Rico would come to Fresno, they wouldn’t do well.” Now, promoters know there is an audience ready to see an artist like Romeo Santos, who brought his Formula Vol 3. tour stopped at Save Mart Center earlier this month.

“They know people will respond.”

For its part, Live Nation has taken a proactive approach to promoting Latin music, Alegria says.

She was the company’s first regional director for Latin music.

“Now, there is one of me in every region of the U.S.,” she says. And there’s an entire team dedicated to bringing up-and-coming Latin acts into larger venues — and they’re still hiring.

The successes can be seen.

Alegria remembers seeing Karol G playing at the Avalon club in Los Angeles. It’s a historic venue certainly, but it’s not the Rose Bowl, where she sold out two nights in August, drawing 120,000 people and grossing somewhere close to $40 million.

On a slightly smaller scale, up-and-coming Mexican corrido singer Junior H was playing theater-sized venues as recently as February, but transitioned into arenas for his Sad Boy tour, which kicked off at crypto.com arena.

It also stopped at the Save Mart Center.

Alegria doesn’t see the movement waning, especially as Latin artists begin to flex their muscles out of the festival circuit.

Karol G headlined Lallopalloza this year.

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny headlined Coachella, after having one of the highest grossing tours of 2023, according to Pollstar.

So, look from more Regional Mexican acts making big moves in 2024, she says.

“I feel like you’re going to see a lot of musicia Mexicana, next year.”