Las Vegas Sizzled with the Exhilarating Sounds of the City’s First Latin Music Festival

Las Vegas, Nevada - August 22, 2006. Las Vegas, the City of Entertainment, welcomed the multi-genre Latin music festival, Las Vegas Caliente, to four exciting venues that featured 14 internationally recognized bands over a two day weekend. It all began at Cox Pavilion with the romantic styles of well-known Regional Mexican artists, and ended at the legendary Stardust Pavilion with an electrifying performance by the world renowned salsa band, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.
Viva Vegas kicked off the weekend festivities at Cox Pavilion Friday night with the smooth and melodic sounds of yesterday. La Revolucion de Emiliano Zapata, Los Terricolas de Nestor Daniel, and Los Freddy’s delighted the audience with the songs that fans have been enjoying for more than 30 years. “It brought back memories for me. It took me back to the days I was in high school, the days when my husband and I first met. These were the songs we fell in love to and now we are here reminiscing and celebrating our anniversary”, said Martha Ramirez, a longtime resident of Phoenix, Arizona. La Internacional Sonora Show followed and got everyone up on their feet dancing to their hit song, “Escandalo”. Closing out the show was headlining band, La Grande de Sinaloa Banda Limón with a completely different style of music and dancing that added exciting variety to the night.
The Mandalay Bay House of Blues hosted Latin Jazz Vegas on Friday night starring Rick Arroyo and the Latin Percussion Ensemble. Attendees were able to enjoy a nice dinner while soothing their ears with his melodious jazz tunes.
The festival continued on Saturday night with two more concerts. The Mariachi Vegas show was held at Cashman Theater featuring Mariachi Plata, Suzette Marquez, Zulema Villela, and Mexico Vivo whose performances offered traditional Mexican songs and folkloric dances.
The final show, Salsa Vegas, was held at the Stardust Pavilion where Salsa and Reggaeton artists rocked the house. Yari Moré, Tercera Dimension, and the Reggaeton sensation Manana de Havana got the party started with their tropical sounds and contagious beats. The show ended with an exhilarating performance by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico who closed out a fun-filled weekend of music and dancing.
The music festival was a hit with tourists from around the country, as well as Las Vegas locals. Phyllis Garcia, who traveled all the way from Baltimore said, “Finally there is a Latin and Tropical music festival in a city that appreciates a good party. There’s no doubt we’ll be back next year and for many years to come.”
“Everyone was excited that Las Vegas Caliente brought to the city for the very first time such a wide variety of music genres and world renowned bands for a two day celebration of non-stop Latin music. The feedback from attendees was positive and our Saturday night finale concert featuring the legendary El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, culminated the music-filled weekend in a nightclub style ballroom filled with fans from as far away as Paris, France. Las Vegas Caliente 2007 promises to bring an even more diverse line up to the world’s number one party destination,” said Ron Washington, executive producer of the event.
Next year guests can expect to enjoy musical performances, as well as boxing, comedy, a rodeo, and a host of consumer trade fairs including a health fair, job fair, and an art fair making Las Vegas Caliente a one-of-a-kind Latin and Tropical music and cultural celebration that will establish Las Vegas as the perfect place to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month.

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