Tecate Emblema 2024: Day 1 Delivers Dancing, a Birthday Celebration and an Oscar Winner

The first day of the Tecate Emblema festival in Mexico City on Friday (May 17) featured a lineup that was sonically broad and led mainly by women, bringing everything from electro-pop to hip-hop to the Curve 4 of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. As the icing on the cake at the fest, British star Sam Smith celebrated ahead of their upcoming birthday.

On Friday the festival gathered 59,000 attendees, according to promoter Ocesa, who took in shows from Måneskin, Marshmello, Belanova, Noah Cyrus, Paty Cantú, Esteman, Matisse, RIIZE, Monsieur Periné, Elena Rose, Nicole Zignago, Alex Ponce and Ácido Pantera, all of whom brought the best of their repertoire to the three stages set up at the former F1 venue in the Mexican capital.

Among the surprises this year at Tecate Emblema was the presence of the Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, who, accompanied by the stars of his award-winning film Roma (2018) and notable local rockers, attended the Mexican stage debut of his daughter Bu Cuaron. The Italo-Mexican singer-songwriter captivated both locals and strangers with her indie pop set.

The program continues on Saturday (May 18) with Brazilian star Anitta, who is kicking off her world tour Baile Funk Experience at Tecate Emblema. Also highly anticipated was the return of Christina Aguilera and Nelly Furtado to the Latin American country, as well as performances by DJ Calvin Harris, Miranda!, Nicki Nicole, Aitana, Lali and Empress Of.

Below, see five of our favorite moments from Day 1 of the 24th edition of Tecate Emblema.