We’ve made a playlist of some of Saturday’s highlights from the upcoming Festival Cordillera 2022 in Parque Simón Bolívar.
This weekend (Sep 24 and 25) sees the Festival Cordillera 2022 rock up in Parque Simón Bolívar. It’ll feature the very best of Latin talent both established and up-and-coming. Tickets are still available, and they’ll even plant a tree to celebrate your purchase. These artists are all big news in Latin lands, but not necessarily elsewhere so we’ve compiled a little mixtape to catch you up with some of the sounds of the weekend.
Some quick orientation notes: The main stage is Aconcagua, with Cotopaxi and Cocuy as the second and third stages. If you’re cold, try the Bosque Electrónica tent.
First up on Saturday, it’s a straight shoot out of young Colombian talent on the second and third stages. We’re picking Briela Ojeda (2.15pm, Cotopaxi) to open this list, with her striking vocals matching the power of her heartfelt lyrics. Doña Justicia showcases her extraordinary voice perfectly.
At the same time is Duplat (Cocuy, 2.15pm), the capital’s premier fashion-forward whimsy-popster. Párpados Cerrados has a suitably bananas (see what we did there?) video to match the idiosyncratic music.
Arath Herce (3pm, Aconcagua) will be making his debut in Colombia to open the main stage. It’s a big stage for a single man and a guitar, but his uplifting ballads could just be perfect for mid-afternoon. We’ve leaned into the recent rough weather with Lluvia, and hope that the chorus “danzamos por la lluvia” will be how we manage the likely downpours.
After the Mexican ingenue comes the oldest performer of the weekend, Totó la Momposina (3.45pm, Cotopaxi). She’s retiring shortly after this performance, so if you haven’t caught this bona fide legend, get on it this weekend. We’ve chosen El Pescador for its characteristic rolling drums under the perfect melody of her voice, but you could lose an afternoon surfing her back catalogue and you’ll not hear a bad song.
A radically different direction is next with the genre-bending reggaetech bomba that is Rosa La Pistola (4.45pm, Bosque Electrónico). She brings the sex and violence to the movie of the festival, with a likely XXX-rated show that seems far too early in the day. Cumbia Malandra is about as PG-rated as she ever gets – pretty much any other video you watch will push the YouTube limits on sexual content, that’s for sure.
After that, let’s keep things boisterous with Bogotá legends LosPetitFellas (7pm Cocuy). They’ve been around forever, it seems, but haven’t lost any of their infectious energy as they bounce from big beats to rap-rock. Rock n’ Love is a joyous celebration of rollicking nights out in la nevera of Bogotá.
Over on the main stage it’s our favourite of the Big Foreign Names in the shape of Mon Laferte (7pm, Aconcagua). Like a woman trapped out of time, she’s got all the style of the 1920s but the sensibility of the 2020s. She flits between genres with ease and always seems at home. She’s never sounded more Colombian than in her cumbia Amárrame, and thankfully won’t be bringing Juanes.
Los Amigos Invisibles (10.45pm, Cocuy) are closing out the third stage. Hailing from Venezuela, these boys bring solid and dependable Latin-rock to the stage. Of all their songs, we’re sure that the one you’ll like is La Que Me Gusta (see what we did there?).
It’s worth staying up late for Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (11.45pm, Aconcagua), one of those Argentine bands that have been the guiding point for three successive generations of fans of rock en español. Similar to the equally long-lived AC/DC, pretty much every song sounds very, very similar, but we’re going with their paean against fascism, Mal Bicho.
Closing out the Saturday (we’re aware it’s technically Sunday at this point, pedants) festivities are lo-fi legends Mitú (00.15am, Bosque Electrónico). They’re not from Vaupés, but there’s still something magical and otherworldly in their music. This ode to every Rolo’s favourite holiday destination, Melgar, is a comedown classic if you’ve been on the naughty stuff this weekend.
