Photo Courtesy of Los Dells Festival Website/losdells.com
In 2017, Los Dells Festival set out to create a unique experience for Latino music lovers across the U.S., one that truly set them apart from all the others by combining live entertainment across all genres with art, food and camping.
For many, the introductory star-studded lineup sounded almost too good to be true, featuring mainstream reggaetoneros like Daddy Yankee, bachata popstar Prince Royce and norteño favorites like Los Tucanes de Tijuana, scheduled over Labor Day weekend in a rural, heavily wooded area of south-central Wisconsin synonymous with waterparks and resort hotels. Los Dells also spotlighted a greater issue—the absence of a major Latino-centered music festival that was reflective of their audience’s diverse music tastes and incorporated both longstanding and emerging cumbia, bachata, Latin trap, classic and indie rock, mariachi and reggaeton artists alike.
“When we started, there wasn’t a major Latin music festival in the United States that brought some of the biggest names from all genres,” says curator Damon Rey. “We wanted to bring people together and create something special. The Midwest in general is a largely underserved market. A lot of the time, this area and Wisconsin does tend to get overlooked and there’s a big Latinx presence, so we thought, ‘Let’s give the Midwest and Latinos in the Midwest something that they don’t have and that we know they would appreciate.’”
This year’s roster includes urbano contemporaries like Ozuna and Farruko, Latin trap newcomer Lunay, singer-songwriter Natalia LaFourcade, American rapper-turned-author Logic, “Suavemente” singer Elvis Crespo, dream-folk rocker Luz Elena Mendoza (better known as Y La Bamba) and alterna-heavyweights Café Tacvba, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary.
Now in its third year, Los Dells has proven it goes far beyond the Instagram-worthy allure of a standard regional destination festival by offering festival attendees a variety of options at different price levels such as single day tickets, two-day passes, camping and RV camping packages, along with a four-person “Hotel Dellero” VIP fantasy package that includes an onsite hotel room and a new, exclusive bonus.
“For the people who have a fantasy package wristband, we’ve added some special intimate performances by some of our biggest artists that are going to be doing some stripped-down acoustic performances,” says Rey. “They’re going to get to see these performances with a couple hundred other people by artists that typically play for thousands of people. The opportunity to see them in such a small setting... it’s a real treat.”
Los Dells Festival will be held at the Woodside Sports Complex Festival Grounds, 4217 W. 50th St., Mauston, and runs Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1. Single-day tickets (starting at $79) and packages are available at losdells.com.
