Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Original music will return to downtown Playa del Carmen every Friday with “Ecos de La Bamba,” a cultural initiative that aims to sustain the independent artistic movement that has driven the namesake festival for nearly a decade.
Danhi Pacheco, founder of the festival and member of Pacheco MX, said the new concert series will serve as a prelude to the ninth consecutive edition of the cultural gathering, scheduled for September 21–26, 2026.
“Basically, it’s about giving continuity to what will be the ninth consecutive edition of the festival,” said the musician and cultural promoter from Playa del Carmen, emphasizing that the project seeks to continue bringing original music to the local community.
The concerts begin May 15 and will take place every Friday at Café Andrade, one of the city’s most iconic and centrally located venues.
“We are compiling the original music artists who have performed over the past eight years at the festival so they have a platform for exposure,” Pacheco said.
He noted that while Playa del Carmen offers abundant entertainment for tourists in hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs, there are still few venues dedicated to original, author-driven projects.
“There are many artists doing shows specifically for tourism, but for original music that aims to transcend, there are very few forums,” he said.
“Ecos de La Bamba por Playa” will bring together artists who have participated in past festival editions, including familiar local voices such as María Leticia Rioja, who will open the series with her show “Concierto Circular-Revolución Integral.”
Other local talents include Paola Portillo, Alejandra de Garay, and La Majo, who have used the festival as a showcase for their original work.
The series also aims to create opportunities for emerging musicians through an open mic session before each concert, primarily for students wanting to perform their first compositions.
The partnership with Café Andrade carries symbolic weight for Playa del Carmen’s recent history, Pacheco said. “They have been festival sponsors from the beginning and are also a fundamental part of historic moments in Playa del Carmen.”
For over two decades, the café has served as a meeting point for artists, journalists, activists, politicians, and citizens, becoming a social and cultural landmark opposite Plaza 28 de Julio.
Admission will not be ticketed but will rely on a voluntary cultural contribution per person to directly support the artists and the project’s continuity. “It’s not a charge, it’s a voluntary cultural contribution or donation in support of the artists,” Pacheco clarified.
The La Bamba por Playa por México y La Paz festival in September will also include workshops, free activities, and a possible peace forum at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Quintana Roo.
Pacheco described the effort as a collaboration among artists, citizens, private enterprise, and cultural groups. “The importance is integration more than inclusion. This festival is built by all of us together, not from one side alone,” he concluded.
