How Fiestas Patrias Became Big Business in Las Vegas

When Alejandro Fernández takes the stage Sept. 14-15 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, it will mark his record 22nd year performing at one of the hottest music events in Sin City. But the event he has been playing for more than two decades isn’t a recurring casino or club residency — it’s Fiestas Patrias, the ever-growing weekend of programming celebrating El Grito de Dolores (when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s call to arms ignited the Mexican War of Independence in 1810) and Mexican Independence Day, which are officially celebrated Sept. 15 and 16, respectively.

“Twenty-four years ago, I began what has become a tradition of celebrating Fiestas Patrias with the Latino community in Las Vegas,” the Mexican superstar tells Billboard. “I am proud to say it is now the biggest Mexican Independence Day celebration outside of Mexico and one of the most important single days of live Mexican music anywhere in the world.”

Fiestas Patrias are celebrated throughout the United States and Mexico in big and small ways — but Las Vegas’ version has become the single biggest Fiestas Patrias weekend for live Mexican music anywhere, with thousands of visitors from around the globe, though mainly from Mexico. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority calls it “one of the largest sources of international visitation” for the city.

This year’s bookings include returning acts, such as Luis Miguel, Los Bukis (who currently have a residency at Dolby Live), Gloria Trevi, Banda MS, Grupo Firme and Emmanuel, and newcomers like Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida, Ana Bárbara and Carín León, performing at venues throughout the city. And as in previous years, not all of them are Mexican: Urbano stars Nicky Jam and Arcángel, for example, will join Luis R Conriquez and Codiciado at the third annual Rumbazo festival, taking place at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center Sept. 13-14 in partnership with Billboard.

But despite what it has become today, Las Vegas’ Fiestas Patrias origins weren’t particularly musical.

“In reality, it wasn’t born as a musical event but as a sporting event, when those big fights began, the great Mexican boxers,” says veteran tour promoter Henry Cárdenas, referring to the September 1992 match where Mexican Julio César Chávez famously beat Puerto Rican Héctor “Macho” Camacho for the WBC super lightweight belt. “Then they brought [musical] talent to join the party.”

This year, the boxing tradition continues with Mexican legend Canelo Álvarez putting his super middleweight titles on the line as he takes on Puerto Rican Edward Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 14. But today music, not sports, is the driving force behind Las Vegas’ Fiestas Patrias celebration.

For Luis Medina, executive producer/CEO of Uno Productions and a former manager of Julio Iglesias, the city’s Fiestas Patrias tradition dates back even further, to the late ’80s, when the Spanish star began coming to Vegas twice a year to perform a series of shows at Caesars Palace.

“Julio was perhaps primarily the one who opened Las Vegas to Latinos,” Medina says. “Then came [Mexicans] José José, Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernández, those classics. And that process began.”

Little by little, he recalls, Las Vegas became a Latin artistic hotspot — and the city’s hospitality industry took note. “Many hotels were surprised that they were being left behind because all these movements were happening, and they were still studying us with a magnifying glass,” Medina says. “They thought it was only with Luis Miguel or Julio Iglesias or Vicente Fernández” that audiences would show up.

Eventually, the demand led not only the biggest hotels to book Mexican and Latin talent but also smaller venues and nightclubs. “This effervescence was created as a result of all these processes, and Las Vegas began to grow,” Medina says. “Today, the millions of dollars that drive our business is impressive and allows Las Vegas to live off the Latin market in the month of September.”

Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans travel from south of the border to celebrate their independence in Vegas; even a decade ago, more than 300,000 Mexicans came by air alone for the 2013 festivities, according to a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority report. And, Cárdenas adds, most of them have good purchasing power. “When you are coming to Las Vegas to celebrate from Mexico, there are other additional costs — the hotel, the tickets, the food, the good life, the partying. And that patron has distinguished himself because he is high class, and he comes prepared to celebrate … and attend at least three or four events that weekend,” he says.

“The people, culture and traditions of Mexico have made a significant impact on the city both on and off the Strip,” says Molly Castano, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president of public relations and communications, adding that “the celebrations that take place in honor of Fiestas Patrias are proof of that impact and connection.”

As for Alejandro Fernández, his Fiestas Patrias Vegas bookings have only grown: In 2022, his show went from one to two sold-out nights at the 17,000-capacity MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“He was the first artist that we worked with that wanted to create his special weekend in Las Vegas, and there’s nothing more mexicano than La Familia Fernández,” says Emily Simonitsch, senior vp of West Coast booking at Live Nation. “I think it’s impactful because he does the traditional celebration halfway through the show, celebrating the tradition of El Grito and Independencia with the flag and the bells and the dancers. So that’s what created it. That’s what El Grito is about.”

“This is a demonstration of the cultural influence and economic power of the Latino community in the U.S.,” Fernández adds. “I look forward to continuing the tradition for many years to come, representing my pride and love for Mexico, our people and our music.”

This story appears in Billboard‘s Rumbazo special issue, dated Sept. 14, 2024.